INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Millennium Development Goals

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what progress has been made on the millennium development goals since the last G8 summit.

Hilary Benn: It is too early to say what specific impact the commitments agreed to by the G8 at Gleneagles have had on progress towards the millennium development goals. There has, however, been progress in the last 12 months on debt cancellation, increased aid, a new humanitarian fund and action to get AIDS treatment to more people, and all of these will help in the fight to end extreme poverty by 2015.

Sustainable Forestry (Africa)

Paddy Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps he is taking to promote sustainable forestry in Africa.

Gareth Thomas: Poor governance and weak law enforcement hinder the achievement of sustainable forestry in Africa. Earlier this year, we committed £11 million over the next four years to the Forest Governance Support Programme in Cameroon. In addition we committed £12 million over the next five years in support of Partnership Agreements with African countries under the European Union's Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Action Plan.

Kashmir/Pakistan Earthquake

Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what support his Department is making available for people affected by the earthquake in Kashmir and Pakistan; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: Following the Earthquake the UK pledged £129 million for relief and reconstruction in Pakistan, including Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
	£54 million has been committed to relief activities, including direct support to the relief effort led by the Government of Pakistan and funds channelled through UN agencies and non-government agencies. We flew out 86 search and rescue experts and funded over 70 relief flights, three Chinook helicopters and a Royal Engineers squadron.
	We have already provided £5 million for health, education and infrastructure reconstruction, and a further £65 million is committed.

Gaza

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment he has made of the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Hilary Benn: I have been following the humanitarian situation closely and with growing concern. Following damage to Gaza power station, households are receiving only six to 12 hours of electricity per day. Fuel supplies are limited. United Nations agencies report that water supplies, health services and sanitation are all being affected. Some foodstuffs are running low due to difficulty in supplies entering Gaza.

Nigeria

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what financial support his Department is making available to Nigeria in 2006-07 to assist poverty reduction and increase educational opportunities.

Hilary Benn: The Department for International Development (DFID) has allocated £80 million in bilateral expenditure to assist poverty reduction in Nigeria in 2006-07. Of this, £8 million will go to programmes which directly support the education sector, but many other DFID activities in Nigeria, including work at state level to improve the management of public expenditure, have an impact on education outcomes.

Western Balkans

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the Department's programmes in the Western Balkans following the Government's recognition of Montenegro as a sovereign state.

Gareth Thomas: Our approach to supporting countries in the Balkans places a high priority on enhancing the effectiveness of the international community's assistance to the region. This will continue. The estimated UK share of multilateral assistance to Serbia and Montenegro in 2003 (the most recent official statistics available) was £37 million. Our programme to Montenegro ended in March 2005 and we currently have no plans to reconsider this decision.

2006 G8 Summit

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions he has had with his G8 counterparts on the agenda for the 2006 G8 Summit.

Hilary Benn: The agenda for the 2006 G8 Summit in St. Petersburg is decided by the Russian Presidency in consultation with other G8 heads. The Russian priorities are energy security, infectious diseases and education. A priority for DFID is to make sure that the G8 leaders continue to focus on delivering the commitments they made at Gleneagles last year on support to Africa and climate change. President Putin has asked the Prime Minister to lead a discussion on progress against the Gleneagles commitments to reduce poverty and support sustainable development in Africa.

Doha Round

David Gauke: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the implications for the developing world of the Doha Round of trade negotiations.

Gareth Thomas: The UK is working hard to ensure a successful round that delivers real improvements and opportunities for developing countries. We recognise that reducing trade tariffs alone will tend to favour only the more advanced developing countries in the immediate term. We have therefore been promoting a "development package", containing short-term changes to trade rules, medium-term adjustment measures, and support for longer-term supply side capacity building.

EU Aid Programme

Philip Dunne: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of aid delivered through the EU's aid programme; and if he will make a statement.

Gareth Thomas: The European Commission has improved the effectiveness of its aid substantially since 2000, when a major reform programme commenced. Today, delivery is faster and is implemented by a dedicated delivery agency (EuropeAid). Field offices are stronger, with better skilled staff. Projects are delivering more effective results, as shown by regular on-site assessments by independent experts. Nevertheless, there is still a case for further reform to improve aid effectiveness.

Vietnam

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what support his Department is giving to Vietnam in 2006-07.

Gareth Thomas: In 2006-07 DFID will provide £50 million of grant aid to the Government of Vietnam to improve education, tackle HIV and support programmes targeting the poorest regions. DFID also provides support to other Government of Vietnam priorities including:
	improving public finance management and anti-corruption, infrastructure and Vietnam's commitments for WTO accession.

Clean Water

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions his Department has had with the World Health Organisation on access to clean water and sanitation in  (a) Tunisia,  (b) Cameroon and  (c) Tanzania.

Hilary Benn: I have not had recent discussions with WHO on water and sanitation in Tunisia or Cameroon. DFID does not have a bilateral aid programme in Tunisia, though we make a significant contribution to development in Tunisia through the European Commission's programmes. In Cameroon, DFID's focus is on forestry and governance and we do not have a bilateral water and sanitation programme.
	In Tanzania, DFID works with the Government and a number of development partners in the water sector, including WHO, to help strengthen policies and review their implementation. DFID has a particular focus on increasing the amount of money reaching local government to fund basic rural water supply and sanitation.
	DFID is committed to expanding access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation in poor countries across the world. On World Water Day 2005, I committed to double UK spending on water supply and sanitation in Africa, bringing our spend to £95 million a year by 2008.

DUCHY OF LANCASTER

Sir Alistair Graham

John Spellar: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster pursuant to her answer of 15 June 2006,  Official Report, columns 1378-9W, on Sir Alistair Graham, how much was claimed by Sir Alistair from each of the bodies for which he was entitled to as  (a) per diem and  (b) per appeal remuneration.

Hilary Armstrong: pursuant to the reply, 15 June 2006, Official Report, c. 1379W
	I regret that the date on which Sir Alistair, as chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, began receiving £380 per day was incorrect. The date given was 26 April 2005.
	The correct date is 26 April 2004.
	In respect of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, a public body sponsored by the Cabinet Office, Sir Alistair was a member between 1 October 2003 and 25 April 2004, and was appointed chairman with effect from 26 April 2004. As a member, Sir Alistair's time commitment was on average two days per month for which he received £180 per day. As chairman, Sir Alistair's time commitment has on average been two days per week. From 26 April 2004 to 5 May 2005 he received £380 per day and from 6 May 2005 to date he has received £440 per day. The information requested in respect of the other public appointments held by Sir Alistair is not held by my Department.

TRANSPORT

Biometrics

David Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what  (a) planned and  (b) existing projects in his Department involve the use of biometric technology.

Gillian Merron: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is examining the possible use of biometrics to help ensure greater security of the driving licence. This could include whether use can be made of the growing number of photographs held on its database to assist with the 10-yearly renewal cycle commencing in 2008. Investigations are in their early stages. The Agency is also piloting biometrics for security and access control purposes at its base in Swansea using fingerprint readers.
	In addition, the Transport Security Directorate is currently working with the aviation industry to develop standards for the use of biometric systems in airport access control.

Cycling

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what support his Department is giving to  (a) Oxfordshire and  (b) other local authorities to help encourage children to cycle to school.

Gillian Merron: The Department has provided £270,000 to date to help fund five cycle routes in Oxfordshire which link six schools to the National Cycle Network. Some £12 million in central Government funds have been invested in this scheme, generating significant match funding from local authorities resulting in overall investment of over £30 million. Over 330 cycle routes to schools have been built or are under construction.
	In addition, a joint Department for Transport and Department for Education and Science capital grants scheme has allocated just over £750,000 to 128 schools in Oxfordshire with travel plans, for infrastructure such as secure cycle parking.
	Nationally, around £57 million of grant has been awarded to over 10,000 schools in England, through this scheme.
	The Secretary of State for Transport announced recently a doubling of Cycling England's annual budget from £5 million to £10 million per annum over the next three years. The extra money will be targeted at providing even more links for schools to the National Cycle Network and to provide more cycle training in schools.

FIFA World Cup

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which matches  (a) he and  (b) other Ministers in his Department attended at the FIFA World Cup 2006 in Germany in their ministerial capacity; at what cost to public funds; and with what contributions from third party organisations.

Gillian Merron: No Ministers in the Department for Transport attended the FIFA World Cup 2006 in their ministerial capacity.

Local Transport Authorities

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to announce which local transport authorities will become centres of excellence; and how much each will receive as a consequence.

Gillian Merron: Authorities in 17 local transport plan areas were awarded centres of excellence status for local transport delivery in February 2005. A total of £100,000 per year is available to support them in providing peer-led activities. The distribution of this funding between the authorities is related to exactly what particular authorities do as centres of excellence.
	Centres of excellence status will be reviewed in 2007.
	There are more details about the centres of excellence, including a list of the designated authorities, in a Department for Transport release dated 25 February 2005, available on the Government News Network website (www.gnn.gov.uk).

Local Transport Authorities

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how the success of the local transport authorities centres of excellence programme was measured.

Gillian Merron: The centres of excellence programme is a part of the Local Transport Plan policy. Work is under way to evaluate the success of the policy as a whole.
	An interim report is published on the Department for Transport website (www.dft.gov.uk)—under research, within the local transport plan subsection of the regional and local transport section of the site.

Private Finance Initiative Projects

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport by what total amount private finance initiative projects for which his Department is responsible which went over budget did so in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: A key aspect of the private finance initiative (PFI) is risk transfer on projects going over budget. This means overruns on PFI projects that the Department is responsible for will normally be carried by the private sector provider and not the Department for Transport.
	Unitary charge payments do not commence until the service is operational. If a private sector budget overrun influences the service standard provided, PFI contract terms include a right for the public sector to make performance deductions from the unitary charge payment made to the private sector provider.

Railways

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what changes in  (a) legislation and  (b) guidance issued by his Department or its agencies there have been since the publication of the Strategic Rail Authority's review of rail fares policy.

Derek Twigg: There have been no changes to legislation or guidance. The review considered the fares regulation policy contained in the franchise agreements between the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) and train operators. Franchise agreements were changed with effect from January 2004 to reflect the new fares policy.

Railways

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what improvements to train services are proposed as part of  (a) the West Midlands franchise from 2007 and  (b) the 2008 timetable following increased capacity at Milton Keynes in terms of reinstatement of direct Milton Keynes to Birmingham services in addition to inter-city services.

Derek Twigg: From November 2007, when the West Midlands franchise commences, there will be no changes to the existing overall pattern of services between Milton Keynes and Birmingham. There will be an hourly direct inter-city service but no regular direct "local" West Midlands franchise service via Northampton.
	Network Rail is currently undertaking the detailed development of the December 2008 timetable. From this date, as set out in the West Coast Main Line Strategy, there will continue to be an hourly direct inter-city service between Milton Keynes and Birmingham. It is also possible that certain local London-Northampton and Northampton-Birmingham services to be operated by the West Midlands franchise may be linked at Northampton, thus providing additional direct services between Milton Keynes and Birmingham. However, this cannot be confirmed until Network Rail's timetable development work is completed later in 2006.

Railways

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on progress towards a new high speed railway link between England and Scotland.

Derek Twigg: The Government made a manifesto commitment to look at the feasibility and affordability of a new north-south high-speed link. The Government have committed to take this forward in the development of a long term strategy for the railways, drawing on Sir Rod Eddington's advice on the long-term impact of transport decisions on the UK's productivity, stability and growth. This work will report when the rail strategy is published in summer 2007.

Fares Policy

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he last discussed fares policy with First Great Western; and if he will intervene to seek a review of this policy.

Derek Twigg: The Department has regular discussions with First Great Western about a range of issues. First Great Western is subject to the Department for Transport's standard fares policy in respect of regulated fares. Unregulated fares are a matter for First Great Western.

Road Traffic Accidents

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many  (a) road traffic accidents,  (b) road traffic fatalities,  (c) accidents involving motorcyclists,  (d) fatalities involving motorcyclists,  (e) accidents involving bicyclists and  (f) fatalities involving bicyclists there were in (i) Hampshire, (ii) Southampton, (iii) Portsmouth and (iv) Eastleigh in each year since 1990.

Stephen Ladyman: The total number of personal injury road accidents, the number of personal injury accidents involving a two wheeled motor vehicle (TWMV), and the number of personal injury accidents involving cyclists reported to the police, as well as the resulting fatalities for (i) county of Hampshire, (ii) Southampton, (iii) Portsmouth and (iv) Eastleigh from 1990 to 2005 are given in the following tables.
	
		
			  Table (i): accidents and fatalities in the county of Hampshire: 1990-2004 
			 Accidents involving TWMV  Accidents involving pedal cyclists 
			   Total number accidents (a)  Fatalities (b)  Total number accidents (c)  Total fatalities( 1)  (d)  Total number accidents (e)  Total fatalities( 2)  (f) 
			 1990 7,481 176 1,407 17 1,071 9 
			 1991 6,715 104 1,125 24 1,011 9 
			 1992 6,643 101 994 17 977 10 
			 1993 6,692 109 949 25 997 4 
			 1994 6,761 80 860 17 1,053 10 
			 1995 6,834 77 855 11 1,053 4 
			 1996 7,176 91 857 18 1,046 6 
			 1997 7,104 74 870 15 990 5 
			 1998 6,856 76 856 22 937 8 
			 1999 6,776 95 923 18 972 7 
			 2000 6,850 84 932 21 858 2 
			 2001 6,430 68 948 16 724 3 
			 2002 6,377 91 1,031 21 663 8 
			 2003 6,095 100 1,012 33 721 3 
			 2004 5,624 60 838 10 682 6 
			 2005 5,326 84 811 19 635 7 
		
	
	
		
			  Table (ii): accidents and fatalities in Southampton unitary authority: 1990-2004 
			 Accidents Involving TWMV  Accidents involving pedal cyclists 
			   Total number accidents (a)  Fatalities (b)  Total number accidents (c)  Total fatalities( 1)  (d)  Total number accidents (e)  Total fatalities( 2)  (f) 
			 1990 979 18 172 4 160 0 
			 1991 885 14 155 5 126 3 
			 1992 881 10 143 2 139 2 
			 1993 897 16 141 3 136 2 
			 1994 901 4 113 3 173 1 
			 1995 953 2 116 0 179 0 
			 1996 968 8 137 2 145 0 
			 1997 916 6 113 0 151 2 
			 1998 930 5 104 2 162 1 
			 1999 877 12 115 2 141 2 
			 2000 870 7 117 4 117 1 
			 2001 886 4 145 1 131 1 
			 2002 828 9 150 5 102 0 
			 2003 838 6 133 3 126 1 
			 2004 826 2 166 0 102 0 
			 2005 731 4 131 1 92 0 
		
	
	
		
			  Table (iii): accidents and fatalities in Portsmouth unitary authority: 1990-2004 
			 Accidents involving TWMV  Accidents involving pedal cyclists 
			   Total number accidents (a)  Fatalities (b)  Total number accidents (c)  Total Fatalities( 1)  (d)  Total number accidents (e)  Total Fatalities( 2)  (d) 
			 1990 967 10 214 0 208 1 
			 1991 923 11 167 1 244 0 
			 1992 882 5 128 0 224 2 
			 1993 984 8 140 2 234 1 
			 1994 909 6 124 0 206 2 
			 1995 950 5 114 1 236 0 
			 1996 980 4 95 0 207 2 
			 1997 886 4 103 1 183 1 
			 1998 906 4 102 0 161 0 
			 1999 913 5 113 2 215 1 
			 2000 980 6 125 1 185 1 
			 2001 811 6 101 1 143 0 
			 2002 911 4 125 0 147 1 
			 2003 805 1 117 0 146 0 
			 2004 784 5 106 1 150 1 
			 2005 729 12 100 3 119 2 
		
	
	
		
			  Table (iv): accidents and fatalities in Eastleigh local authority: 1990-2004 
			 Accidents involving TWMV  Accidents involving pedal cyclists 
			   Total number accidents (a)  Fatalities (b)  Total number accidents (c)  Total fatalities( 1)  (d)  Total number accidents (e)  Total fatalities( 2)  (f) 
			 1990 472 6 94 0 56 1 
			 1991 418 6 70 2 47 1 
			 1992 380 0 70 0 42 0 
			 1993 423 4 78 4 46 0 
			 1994 416 9 58 0 66 2 
			 1995 396 5 58 2 44 1 
			 1996 465 3 61 0 61 0 
			 1997 415 3 56 2 41 0 
			 1998 425 5 65 1 60 1 
			 1999 447 6 72 2 54 0 
			 2000 475 4 75 1 55 0 
			 2001 439 4 80 0 47 0 
			 2002 392 3 81 0 44 1 
			 2003 413 3 81 1 44 0 
			 2004 402 0 65 0 32 0 
			 2005 373 2 64 1 41 0 
			 (1) Includes all fatalities resulting from accidents involving a TWMV, which may include non TWMV road user fatalities. (2) Includes all fatalities resulting from accidents involving a pedal cycle, which may include non-cyclist road user fatalities.

Road Traffic Offences

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what powers are available to order an individual convicted of a road traffic offence to undergo treatment to overcome sleep deprivation symptoms.

Stephen Ladyman: There are no such specific powers. However, section 94(1) of the Road Traffic Act 1988 requires any person diagnosed with any condition that may make them unfit to drive, including sleep-related disorders and irrespective of whether they have been convicted of an offence, to inform the DVLA. Section 22 of The Road Traffic Offenders Act also places an obligation on the court to notify DVLA, if in any proceedings for a motoring offence it appears that the accused may be suffering from a medical condition that affects his ability to drive.
	On notification, an assessment will be made of the person's fitness to continue to hold a driving licence. As part of the supporting information needed to retain or reinstate a licence, evidence of symptom improvement (usually as the result of treatment) is required.

Transport Projects (South West)

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much money was made available for transport-related projects in the South West in 2005-06.

Gillian Merron: Figures for the total identifiable planned public expenditure (current and capital) for the South West region on transport in 2005-06 are contained in the Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 2006, published on the Treasury website (hm-treasury.gov.uk) and available in the House Library.
	The document identifies a planned total of £541 million of capital public expenditure on transport for the South West region in 2005-06. It identifies a planned total of £515 million of current public expenditure on transport for the South West region in 2005-06.

TREASURY

Agricultural Support Sector

Roger Williams: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate his Department has made of the number of people employed in  (a) farm machinery and  (b) agricultural feed businesses; and if he will make a statement.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Colin Mowl dated 12 July 2006:
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your parliamentary question about employment in farm machinery and agriculture feed business. I am replying in her absence. (84614)
	It is estimated from the 2004 annual business inquiry that in Great Britain there were8,000 employee jobs in the manufacture of agricultural machinery and 10,000 in the manufacture of feeds for farm animals.
	As with any sample survey these estimates are subject to a margin of uncertainty.

Allergies (Deaths)

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people died from  (a) nut allergies and  (b) other allergies in each of the last five years.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the national statistician who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 12 July 2006:
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many people died from (a) nut allergies and (b) other allergies in each of the last five years. I am replying in her absence. (84267)
	Figures on deaths from nut allergies in particular are not available as there is no single specific code in the ICD for nut allergies. Figures given in the attached table relate to deaths where one or more of the conditions mentioned on the death certificate was classified as allergic according to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD). Conditions classified to ICD codes which cover both allergic and non-allergic conditions were excluded from this analysis. The latest year for which data are available is 2004.
	
		
			  Deaths where the underlying or one of the contributory causes of death was classified as an allergic reaction,( 1 ) England and Wales, 2000 to 2004( 2) 
			  Calendar year  Number of deaths 
			 2000(3) 50 
			 2001 46 
			 2002 43 
			 2003 52 
			 2004 79 
			 (1) Causes of death were classified as allergic reactions for the year 2000 using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes 477.0—Allergic rhinitis due to pollen  477.8—Allergic rhinitis due to other allergen 477.9—Allergic rhinitis, cause unspecified 493.0—Extrinsic asthma 693—Dermatitis due to substances taken internally 995.0—Anaphylactic shock 995.3—Allergy, unspecified 999.4—Anaphylactic shock due to serum and for the years 2001 to 2004 using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes J30.1—Allergic rhinitis due to pollen J30.2—Other seasonal allergic rhinitis J30.3—Other allergic rhinitis J30.4—Allergic rhinitis, unspecified J45.0—Predominately allergic asthma L27—Dermatitis due to substances taken internally T78.0—Anaphylactic shock due to adverse food reaction T78.1—Other adverse food reactions, not elsewhere specified T78.2—Anaphylactic shock, unspecified T78.4—Allergy unspecified T80.5—Anaphylactic shock due to serum T88.6—Anaphylactic shock due to adverse effect of correct drug or medicament properly administered. (2) Figures are based on deaths occurring each calendar year. (3) The introduction of ICD-10 for coding cause of death in 2001 means that data for allergic reactions may not be completely comparable with data for years before this date. The data should therefore be interpreted with caution.

Bacteria-related Deaths

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many deaths were recorded where  (a) clostridium difficile associated disease,  (b) MRSA,  (c) vancomycin resistant enterocci,  (d) multi-resistant acinetobacter spp and  (e) penicillin resistant streptococcus pneumoniae was mentioned on the death certificate in the last year for which figures are available, broken down by deaths recorded in (i) rural and (ii) non-rural areas; and in how many cases it was also the underlying cause of death.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Colin Mowl dated 12 July 2006:
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many deaths have been recorded where (a) clostridium difficile associated disease, (b) MRSA, (c) vancomycin resistant enterococci, (d) multi-resistant streptococcus pneumoniae was mentioned on the death certificate in the last year for which figures are available; broken down by deaths recorded in (i) rural and (ii) non rural areas; and in how many cases it was also the underlying cause. I am replying in her absence. (84262)
	A breakdown of the figures requested by rural and non-rural area is not available. However, an answer to an almost identical question in respect of the whole of England and Wales from Mr. Paul Burstow MP, was published in the Official Report, No. 176, page 828W.

Carbon Emissions

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent estimate he has made of the carbon emissions of his Department; what commitment he has made to reducing such emissions; and if he will make a statement.

John Healey: The carbon footprint of the Treasury building at 1 Horse Guards road has been estimated by the Carbon Trust. Subsequent investment has been made in building management systems designed to deliver significant annual savings in carbon dioxide in line with their recommendations.

Correspondence

John Baron: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects the Financial Secretary to provide a substantive response to the letter from the hon. Member for Billericay, dated 2 February 2006, regarding his constituent, Mr. Scoot.

John Healey: I replied to the hon. Member on the 27 February confirming that the issues raised by his constituent were being actively looked at. The rules of taxpayer confidentiality preclude any further comment on the issues raised by the correspondence.

Counterfeit Tobacco

Colin Breed: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of under-age smokers purchasing smuggled and counterfeit tobacco products.

John Healey: HM Revenue and Customs current estimate of the share of illicit tobacco is published in "Measuring Indirect Tax Losses" which is available on their website at www.hmrc.gov.uk/pbr2005/mitl 2005.pdf
	However HM Revenue and Customs have made no estimate of the number or proportion of smokers who are under age and purchase smuggled and counterfeit tobacco.

Drug and Alcohol-related Deaths

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many  (a) males and  (b) females aged 16 to 24 years died as a result of accidental (i) drug and (ii) alcohol misuse, excluding suicide in each year since 1990.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Colin Mowl dated 12 July 2006:
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many (a) males and (b) females aged 16 to 24 years died as a result of accidental (i) drug and (ii) alcohol misuse, excluding suicide in each year since 1990. I am replying in her absence. (84664).
	Available figures relate to the number of deaths from accidental drug-related and alcohol-related poisoning. The most recent year for which figures are available is 2004. The table shows the number of deaths in males and females aged 16-24 years for which the underlying cause was accidental poisoning from drugs or alcohol, for the years 1990 to 2004.
	
		
			  Deaths from accidental poisoning by drugs( 1 ) or alcohol( 2)  by sex aged 16 to 24, England and Wales, 1990 to 2004( 3,4) 
			   Accidental drug-related poisoning  Accidental poisoning by exposure to alcohol 
			   Males  Females  Males  Females 
			 1990 45 16 6 1 
			 1991 58 26 3 2 
			 1992 74 18 2 0 
			 1993 107 27 7 3 
			 1994 125 34 1 0 
			 1995 134 32 6 0 
			 1996 130 31 3 1 
			 1997 152 27 8 0 
			 1998 108 38 7 0 
			 1999 95 24 4 0 
			 2000 91 32 7 0 
			 2001 103 27 10 1 
			 2002 80 24 2 1 
			 2003 55 25 7 2 
			 2004 67 26 3 0 
			 (1) Cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes E850-E858 for the years 1990 to 2000, and the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes X40-X44 from 2001 onwards. (2) Cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes E860for the years 1990 to 2000, and the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes X454 from 2001 onwards. (3) Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year from 1990 to 1992 and for deaths occurring in each calendar year from 1993 onwards. (4) Where both drug and alcohol poisoning are mentioned on the death certificate, international coding rules state that the death should be coded to the drug.

Electricity Transmission

Lynne Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effects of the climate change levy on levels of carbon dioxide emissions attributable to electricity transmission and distribution losses; and if he will make a statement.

John Healey: No direct assessment has been made of the effect of CCL on electricity transmission and distribution losses. However, the review of CCL by Cambridge Econometrics (published at Budget 2005) concluded that the levy is effective and should save over 3.5 million tonnes of carbon per annum by 2010, which includes savings from electricity generation and distribution (although the latter is not identified separately).

Global Economic Growth

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he has had with his G8 colleagues on prospects for global economic growth.

Edward Balls: The Chancellor recently met his G8 colleagues at the pre-G8 Summit Finance Ministers meeting in St. Petersburg 9-10 June 2006. Ministers judged that global growth remains strong, although downside risks from high and volatile energy prices and widening global imbalances remain. They reiterated their commitment to addressing global imbalances and underlined that global economic adjustment is a shared responsibility. They further recognised the importance for global growth of an ambitious outcome from the Doha Development Round and committed to fighting protectionism.

Life Expectancy

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average life expectancy is for  (a) men,  (b) women and  (c) all people in each primary care trust area.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 12 July 2006:
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question asking what the average life expectancy is for (a) men, (b) women and (c) all people in each primary care trust area. I am replying in her absence. (84021)
	The most recently available figures for primary care trusts on life expectancy at birth are for 2001-2003 and are provided in the attached table, copies of which are being placed in the House of Commons Library.

Light Bulbs

Mark Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many light bulbs there are in his Department; and how many are energy efficient.

John Healey: The lighting system in the Treasury building at 1 Horse Guards road uses low energy fluorescent tubes. There are some 200 light bulbs used in the heritage lighting fittings, all of which are energy efficient.

Melanoma

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many patients were diagnosed with melanoma in each of the last 10 years.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the national statistician who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 12 July 2006:
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many patients were diagnosed with melanoma in each of the last 10 years. I am replying in her absence.
	The latest available figures for the incidence of melanoma skin cancer are for the year 2003. Registrations of newly diagnosed cases of cancer for 1994 for England and Wales, and from 1995 to 2003 for England, are available in Table 1 of the annual reference volumes, Cancer statistics: Registrations, Series MB1. These are available on the National Statistics website:
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=8843&Pos=&ColRank=1&Rank=224

Mesothelioma

Nick Brown: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the likely impact of the House of Lords judgment in the case of Barker  v. Corus UK Ltd. on future plans for public expenditure in respect of compensation payments for those suffering from mesothelioma.

Stephen Timms: Mesothelioma cancer is a terrible disease that afflicts many families in this country. The disease can manifest many years after exposure, and once diagnosed the individual's condition can rapidly deteriorate. In acknowledging the acute distress that this disease places upon families, the Government recognise the need for compensation to be paid in a timely manner.
	In light of this the Government have been examining the implications for all those affected by the recent Law Lords ruling. The Prime Minister announced on 21 June that we have decided to amend the Compensation Bill. Officials in DCA are working at this moment to develop the right clause for the Bill.

National Minimum Wage

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people aged  (a) over 22,  (b) 18 to 21 and  (c) under 18 years received the national minimum wage in (i) Thameside metropolitan borough, (ii) Stockport metropolitan borough and (iii) Denton and Reddish constituency in the most recent period for which figures are available.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 12 July 2006:
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question to ask how many people aged (a) 22 years and over, (b) 18 to 21 years and (c) under 18 years are receiving the minimum wage in (i) Tameside metropolitan borough, (ii) Stockport metropolitan borough and (iii) Denton and Reddish constituency in the most recent period available. I am replying in her absence. (84082)
	Estimates for the number of jobs paid at the minimum wage for Parliamentary Constituencies and Local Authorities are not available. However the Office for National Statistics calculates estimates of the number of jobs paid less than national minimum wage rates for the United Kingdom and Government Office Regions. A guide to measuring low pay and associated articles and data can be found on the National Statistics website at:
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=5837&Pos=1&ColRank=1&Rank=272

Nuclear Deterrent

Julian Lewis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he plans to allocate funding additional to the current defence budget to meet the cost of a new generation of the nuclear deterrent.

Stephen Timms: Decisions on departmental funding beyond 2007-08 will be made in the CSR and published in summer 2007.

Official Residences

Oliver Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the official residences for which his Department is responsible; who occupies each one; what the annual cost is of running each property; what contribution the occupants of each make towards running costs; what the total capital and refurbishment expenditure was on those properties in 2004-05; how much was spent in each property on  (a) flowers and plants,  (b) wine and entertaining,  (c) food,  (d) telephone bills and  (e) electricity and gas in 2004-05; how many (i) domestic and (ii) maintenance staff are employed at each property, broken down by post; and what the total cost of staff employment was in 2004-05.

Edward Balls: The Treasury is responsible for the upkeep of No. 11 Downing street and for the flat at No. 10 Downing street. No notable capital and refurbishment expenses were incurred in 2004-05. Electricity is estimated at £3,153, gas at £532 and water at £410.
	The share of overall security costs is £26,204 and of maintenance is £14,773.
	Information on the Treasury's expenditure on official entertainment for 2004-05, the year in which Britain held the G8 Presidency, was given to the hon. Member by my colleague, the Under-Secretary of State for Health, the hon. Member for Bury, South (Mr. Lewis) on 14 February 2006,  Official Report, column 1834. Further analysis in relation to food, alcohol, staff and accommodation could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	All expenditure on official entertainment is made in accordance with published departmental guidance on financial procedures and propriety, based on the principles set out in "Government Accounting".
	Telephone calls are included as part of the overall Downing street exchange.
	Cleaning staff are part of the whole Downing street complex. There is one member of staff allocated to managing No.11 Downing street.

Official Residences

Oliver Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will answer Question 50880 tabled by the hon. Member for North East Hertfordshire on 7 February 2006, on official residences.

Edward Balls: I have done so.

Oil Prices

John Hemming: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what oil price his Department predicts for each of the next 10 years.

John Healey: The Treasury does not make detailed predictions of future prices. In projecting the public finances, the Treasury adopts an oil price assumption based on the average of independent forecasts, which is set out in PBR and Budget documents. This assumption was audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General in December 2005, when he concluded that:
	"There is no clearly better method available for use in the future, though large uncertainties in predicted oil prices remain"
	(http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/F5D/46/pbr05_ nao_508.pdf).

Personal Debt

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total amount of personal debt was in  (a) the UK,  (b) Stockport metropolitan borough,  (c) Tameside metropolitan borough and  (d) Denton and Reddish constituency in the most recent period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 12 July 2006:
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question on what the total amount of personal debt was in  (a) the UK,  (b) Stockport metropolitan borough,  (c) Tameside metropolitan borough and  (d) Denton and Reddish constituency in the most recent period for which figures are available. I am replying in her absence. (84083)
	We are unable to provide levels of personal debt by region.
	The total amount of personal debt in the UK in 2005 (end-year) is £1,275,740 million.
	The estimate for total personal debt is a national accounts series for the combined household and non-profit institutions serving households (NPISH) sectors. Estimates for households alone are not available. NPISIIs are legal entities which are principally engaged in the production of non-market services for households and whose main resources are voluntary contributions by households. For example, charities; relief and aid organisations; educational establishments; trade unions, professional associations, political parties and religious organisations, and sports clubs and associations.
	Further data are available from table A64 in United Kingdom Economic Accounts which is available at the following address:
	Note: When using Table 64 of United Kingdom Economic Accounts (web link given below) the database identifier is NNPP
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=1904&Pos=&ColRank=1&Rank=422

Research and Development Tax Credits

Vincent Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many companies have been investigated for fraud in the claiming of  (a) research and development tax credits and  (b) vaccines research relief since their inception; how many were found to be claiming fraudulently in each case; and if he will make a statement.

John Healey: Information regarding the underlying reasons for individual investigations and penalties is held locally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Published in December 2005, "Supporting growth in innovation: next steps for the R and D credit" announced that HMRC will set up specialist R and D units, which will develop expertise to ensure a more consistent handling of claims, together with an effective focus on non-compliance.

Stamp Duty

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people were calculated as being liable for payment of stamp duty in 2005-06; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Balls: There were estimated to be 930,000 UK residential transactions in 2005-06 where the price was above the normal stamp duty threshold of £120,000. The number of transactions where stamp duty was payable will be lower due to the use of reliefs, e.g. disadvantaged area relief.

Unemployment

Rosemary McKenna: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people were unemployed in Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East  (a) in each year since 1997 and  (b) in the latest period for which figures are available.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 12 July 2006:
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about unemployment. I am replying in her absence. (83826)
	The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles statistics of unemployment for local areas from the annual local area Labour Force Survey (LFS) and Annual Population Survey (APS) following International Labour Organisation definitions.
	Table 1 shows the number of unemployed persons, aged 16 and over, resident in the Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East Parliamentary Constituency for the 12 months ending February 2004, from the annual local area LFS, and for the 12-month periods ending in December from 2004 to 2005, from the APS. Data are not available for earlier years for the Scottish constituencies introduced in May 2005.
	These estimates, as with any from sample surveys, are subject to a margin of uncertainty. Changes in the estimates from year to year should be treated with particular caution.
	ONS also compiles statistics for local areas of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (ISA). The only available figures for the new Scottish constituencies on an annual average basis are for 2005 when there were 1,347 claimants of ISA resident in the Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East Parliamentary Constituency. Table 2 shows the figures for this constituency on a single month basis for May 2004 to 2006.
	
		
			  Table 1: Number of unemployed resident in the Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East parliamentary constituency. 
			   Thousands 
			  12 months ending  Level 
			 February 2004 2 
			 December 2004 2 
			 December 2005 3 
			  Notes: Estimates are subject to sampling variability. Changes in the estimates from year to year should be treated with particular caution.  Source:  Annual local area Labour Force Survey; Annual Population Survey 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Number of claimants of Jobseeker's Allowance resident in the Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East parliamentary constituency. 
			  May  Level 
			 2004 1,471 
			 2005 1,352 
			 2006 1,477 
			  Source: Jobcentre Plus Administrative system

VAT Exemptions

Vincent Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether special VAT exemptions have been allowed to any non-profit-making organisations not registered as a charity in the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: The VAT rules contain a range of exemptions and other reliefs for charities and non-profit making organisations, including those bodies not registered with the appropriate charity regulators and registrars.

Wages

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his most recent estimate is of the  (a) mean, and  (b) median wage in (i) rural areas and (ii) non-rural areas; and if he will make a statement.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 12 July 2006:
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question to ask what the most recent estimate is of the (a) mean and (b) median wage in (i) rural and (ii) non rural areas. I am replying in her absence.
	Average earnings by rural and non rural classifications are at present not available. New geographical methodologies mean, however, that following the publication of 2006 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) results in October 2006 such analysis may be possible. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) will be considering this further in the autumn of 2006.
	ONS does have analysis by Local Authority and Parliamentary Constituency published on the internet at:
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=13101

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Animal Care Apprenticeships

Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the Minister for Animal Welfare will reply to the letters of 12 April 2006 and 1 June 2006 from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire on animal care apprenticeships.

Ben Bradshaw: holding answer 10 July 2006
	I apologise for the long delay. A reply was sent on 28 June 2006.

Asda

Ian Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on what date meetings have taken place between the Department and representatives of Asda, including Asda's parent company Wal-Mart, in the last 12 months; and if she will list the participants.

Barry Gardiner: Pursuant to the answer given to the hon. Member on 24 April,  Official Report, Column 813w, the answer stated that a meeting was held on 11 November 2005. Due to an administrative error this was incorrect. The date should have read 8 November 2005. The rest of the answer remains correct and is detailed in full in the following paragraph.Because of the very wide range of goods and outlets involved, the retail sector is affected by more regulations than any other sector. Consequently, major retailers will have regular contact with many departments and may also be involved in working and consultative groups. To list every meeting would involve disproportionate cost, so the following information relates to key meetings only. In the last 12 months, meetings between Defra officials and Asda/Wal-Mart took place on: 22 July 2005; 11 November 2005; 11 February 2006; and 3 March 2006. In addition, a meeting with DEFRA Ministers took place on 8 December 2005. Data privacy legislation makes it inappropriate to list participants in those meetings.

Avian Influenza

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the potential threat of H5N1 avian influenza to the British agriculture industry.

Ben Bradshaw: The Department regularly carries out qualitative risk assessments of the potential threat of H5N1 avian influenza to the UK. These assessments are published on the Defra website:
	http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/diseases/monitoring/riskassess.htm.
	Defra has robust disease control plans and instructions to address an avian influenza epidemic in birds. These are set out in our Exotic Animal Disease Generic Contingency Plan, which is available on the Defra website:
	http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/diseases/notifiable/disease/avianinfluenza-contplan.htm
	These plans and procedures were tested recently during the national avian influenza exercise, Exercise Hawthorn, and used effectively to deal with the incident of H5N1 in Cellardyke and the outbreak of H7N3 in Norfolk.

Brixham Fish Market

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what decision was taken by his Department within the panel meeting on 25 May 2006 in relation to Torbay council's application for public funds for Brixham Fish Market; and what estimate he has made of the percentage of the total cost of the project the proposed funding from his Department would constitute.

Ben Bradshaw: holding answer 10 July 2006
	Torbay council's application for public funds for Brixham Fish Market was approved in principle, at the panel meeting on the 25 May 2006, and has subsequently been finalised as noted in my answer to the hon. Gentlemen's previous question to me on this matter.
	The Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance (FIFG) funding granted for the project constitutes 29 per cent. of the overall cost of the project, based on current estimates from Torbay council.

Carbon Emissions

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent estimate he has made of the carbon emissions of his Department; what commitment he has made to reducing such emissions; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: Government departments submit data on their carbon emissions for annual Sustainable Development in Government Reports. The last report published by the Sustainable Development Commission in December 2005, covering the reporting period April 2004 to March 2005, is available at: http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/watchdog
	DEFRA reported a 3 per cent. increase in absolute carbon emissions since 1999-2000, against a target of a 12.5 per cent. reduction by 2010-11 for central Government departments. It should be noted that due to machinery of government changes, the area occupied by the Department and its Executive Agencies increased by almost 9 per cent. during this period.
	On 12 June 2006, the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs announced new sustainable operations targets for the Government Estate, replacing those in place since 2004. They focus on key areas such as carbon neutrality and emissions, energy efficiency, waste and water consumption.
	They require all central Government departments to: reverse the current upward trend in carbon emissions by April 2007; reduce carbon emissions by 12.5 per cent. by 2010-11, (relative to 1999-2000 levels); reduce carbon emissions by 30 per cent. by 2020; have a carbon neutral office estate by 2012; and reduce carbon emissions from road vehicles used for Government administrative operations by 15 per cent. by 2010-11, (relative to 2005-06 levels).

Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many prosecutions under the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 there have been for  (a) crime and disorder,  (b) fixed penalty notices,  (c) nuisance and abandoned vehicles,  (d) litter,  (e) graffiti and fly-posting,  (f) waste,  (g) dogs and  (h) noise in (i) each local authority and (ii) each police authority, broken down by basic command unit in each region of England and Wales since the introduction of the powers.

Ben Bradshaw: Prosecutions cannot be brought under Part 1 of the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act (CNEA) (Crime and Disorder).
	The number of prosecutions for littering offences in relation to antisocial behaviour, and the number of penalty notices for disorder issued for littering offences, are shown in the following tables.
	The measures involving prosecutions under the CNEA or the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (EPA) (as amended by the CNEA) on fixed penalty notices, graffiti and fly posting, waste, dogs, and noise were not commenced until 6 April 2006. Therefore, comprehensive figures for prosecutions under these sections will not be available until 2007. Similarly, figures relating to prosecutions pursued for nuisance parking offences under Sections 3 and 4 of the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act are not available until the autumn.
	From 6 June 2005, Section 18 of the CNEA extended the offence of littering under Section 87 of the EPA to all open spaces. However, data on prosecutions under Section 87 will not include the specifics of the offence, for example, if the case was being brought for the offence of littering in a watercourse.
	
		
			  Number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts for littering offences related to antisocial behaviour, by police force area, England and Wales, 2003 and 2004( 1) 
			   Depositing litter( 2) 
			  Police force area  2003  2004 
			 Avon and Somerset 5 4 
			 Bedfordshire 2 4 
			 Cambridgeshire 5 1 
			 Cheshire 2 4 
			 Cleveland 8 4 
			 Cumbria 32 39 
			 Derbyshire 1 5 
			 Devon and Cornwall 9 25 
			 Dorset 2 — 
			 Durham 4 5 
			 Essex 9 28 
			 Gloucestershire 1 3 
			 Greater Manchester 17 129 
			 Hampshire 18 15 
			 Hertfordshire 6 16 
			 Humberside 4 3 
			 Kent 6 12 
			 Lancashire 11 13 
			 Leicestershire 18 20 
			 Lincolnshire 1 2 
			 Merseyside 6 59 
			 Metropolitan police 107 174 
			 Norfolk 5 4 
			 North Yorkshire 5 9 
			 Northamptonshire 2 1 
			 Northumbria 69 90 
			 Nottinghamshire 7 10 
			 South Yorkshire 26 43 
			 Staffordshire 5 10 
			 Suffolk 5 2 
			 Surrey 2 3 
			 Sussex 2 2 
			 Thames Valley 5 1 
			 Warwickshire 2 2 
			 West Mercia 10 14 
			 West Midlands 21 20 
			 West Yorkshire 10 49 
			 Wiltshire 4 1 
			 Dyfed-Powys 5 2 
			 Gwent 26 34 
			 North Wales 3 7 
			 South Wales 63 39 
			 England and Wales 551 908 
			 (1) These data are provided on the principal offence basis. (2) Offence under Environmental Protection Act 1990 S.87  Notes: Offence under Environmental Protection Act 1990 Sec.33(6) Offence under Noise Act 1996  Source:  RDS—Office for Criminal Justice Reform 
		
	
	
		
			  Number of Penalty Notices for Disorder issued in November-December 2004, and provisional data for 2005 for littering by police force area 
			  Police force area  2004 (November and December) ( 1) 2005 
			 Avon and Somerset — 6 
			 Bedfordshire — — 
			 Cambridgeshire 2 3 
			 Cheshire — 8 
			 Cleveland — 2 
			 Cumbria — — 
			 Derbyshire 1 10 
			 Devon and Cornwall 2 24 
			 Dorset — 7 
			 Durham — — 
			 Essex 3 27 
			 Gloucestershire — 2 
			 Greater Manchester 1 18 
			 Hampshire 7 27 
			 Hertfordshire — 10 
			 Humberside 2 6 
			 Kent 1 17 
			 Lancashire 5 61 
			 Leicestershire — 7 
			 Lincolnshire — 8 
			 London, City of — — 
			 Merseyside 3 116 
			 Metropolitan 7 94 
			 Norfolk — — 
			 North Yorkshire — — 
			 Northamptonshire — 11 
			 Northumbria 2 25 
			 Nottinghamshire 3 22 
			 South Yorkshire 3 35 
			 Staffordshire 1 11 
			 Suffolk — 2 
			 Surrey — — 
			 Sussex — 4 
			 Thames Valley 1 16 
			 Warwickshire 1 5 
			 West Mercia — 21 
			 West Midlands — 12 
			 West Yorkshire 3 24 
			 Wiltshire — 3 
			 Dyfed Powys — 3 
			 Gwent — 4 
			 North Wales 3 47 
			 South Wales — 8 
			 England and Wales 51 706 
			 (1) Provisional  Source:  RDS—Office for Criminal Justice Reform

Cypermethrin

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the environmental impact of cypermethrin;
	(2)  what the reasons are for the delay in banning cypermethrin;
	(3)  when he expects all existing on-farm stocks of cypermethrin to be exhausted;
	(4)  what assessment he has made of the environmental impact of not implementing an immediate ban on cypermethrin.

Ben Bradshaw: The environmental fate and effects of cypermethrin have been known for many years. A comprehensive monograph on the subject has been published by the World Heath Organisation under the auspices of the International Programme on Chemical Safety: Environmental Heath Criteria 82, Cypermethrin, WHO, Geneva 1989.
	The impact assessments for the cypermethrin sheep dip products were performed in accordance with the legislation pertaining at the time of approval of the marketing authorisations. In order to gain approval of the marketing authorisation the applications would have had to meet the required standards of quality, safety and efficacy. Environmental impact is only one part of the overall risk/benefit balance for an individual product.
	Cypermethrin-based sheep dip products are important for the control of sheep scab, blow fly strike and a number of other ectoparasites, all of which have serious welfare implications for affected animals. Therefore, the suspension was made on a precautionary basis. Before the future of these products can be considered, the veterinary medicines directorate needs to receive and assess further information on the environmental risks presented by their use and how these can be managed. The Marketing Authorisation Holders have been asked to provide such information.
	Additionally, the VMD and the Environment Agency have commissioned an R and D project on environmental exposure to cypermethrin released to the farmyard and the impact of recently dipped sheep crossing watercourses. The results of this project should be available by the end of the summer and will be included in the assessments.
	The existing stocks of the cypermethrin sheep dip products would have been the remnant of the products made for the 2005 dipping season. Therefore, the likelihood is that these will be used during the 2006 dipping season.
	We have been working with farming groups to produce further information for farmers on the risks of environmental pollution from the use of cypermethrin sheep dips and the need to use the products carefully to avoid any pollution. The VMD, EA and SEPA have produced a public notice that is on their websites and will be made available to farmers through NFUs and agricultural merchants.
	The EA continues to monitor for sheep dip pollution using the same approach that has detected and reported previous incidents. In addition, further investigative monitoring for sheep dip pollution will also be undertaken by the Environment Agency during 2006. This will provide a detailed picture of levels of pollution across England and Wales and highlight any misuse of existing stocks of cypermethrin sheep dip products.

Diseases of Fish (Control) Regulations

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what recent discussions he has had with the Scottish Executive Rural Affairs Department on changes to the Diseases of Fish (Control) Regulations 1994;
	(2)  what recent discussions he has had with the Scottish Executive Rural Affairs Department on  (a) mitigation measures and  (b) compensation in relation to aquaculture industries in circumstances where compulsory slaughter is ordered following an outbreak of a List 2 disease.

Ben Bradshaw: Following the recent outbreak of viral haemorrhagic septicaemia on a trout farm in the River Ouse catchment area, officials from my Department are holding regular discussions with their counterparts in the Scottish Executive Rural Affairs Department on a range of matters relating to the control of the disease, including the application of risk mitigation measures.
	The discussions have included consideration of changes that may be necessary to the Diseases of Fish (Control) Regulations 1994 (as amended), in the light of experience gained from dealing with the current outbreak. The discussions have also confirmed the Department's policy of not compensating for the compulsory slaughter of fish due to a serious disease outbreak.

Farmers (Retraining)

Richard Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what funding has been allocated to Suffolk in each of the past five years for retraining of farmers.

Barry Gardiner: The principal mechanism for funding the retraining of farmers is the Vocational Training Scheme (VTS), set up as part of the England Rural Development Programme and administered by DEFRA's Rural Development Service. Under this scheme, applications are accepted from either training organisers, or eligible individuals.
	VTS funding has been awarded to projects focusing on general transferable business skills, diversification opportunities, or skills development related to specific farming activities, in order to maximise returns. The information given in the following table shows the money awarded by year to VTS projects sited in the county of Suffolk.
	
		
			   VTS (£) 
			 2001 120,00 
			 2002 0 
			 2003 131,000 
			 2004 19,072 
			 2005 1,013 
			 2006 0 
		
	
	However, a significant amount of VTS funding has been awarded to projects not based in Suffolk, but from which Suffolk's farmers have still benefited. Also, the figures above do not take account of National VTS projects, funded from the National budget, which may have included some Suffolk-based beneficiaries.

Flooding

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent representations he has received about the membership of the West Midlands Regional Flood Defence Committee; and if he will appoint a member who will represent Shropshire only.

Ian Pearson: The Severn Trent Regional Flood Defence Committee, which covers the Midlands Region of the Environment Agency, comprises a Chair and seven members appointed by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; two members appointed by the Environment Agency; and 11 members appointed by county and unitary councils in the area of the Committee.
	I have received no recent representations about membership of the Committee. In making appointments to the Committee my right hon. Friend has regard more to the experience and skills of prospective members than their geographical location. However, one of the DEFRA appointed members does live in Shropshire. Also, we recently advertised a number of DEFRA member vacancies in the Shropshire Star newspaper.
	With regard to council appointees, the Committee's area encompasses 32 local authorities and clearly not all can be represented individually if we are to keep the Committee to a manageable size. We have therefore made provision for membership to be shared between some councils; one seat is shared between Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin and Worcestershire.
	The arrangement for sharing of seats was based on advice from the Committee themselves on the best strategic alliances and representation based on population and properties at risk from flooding. Within those groupings, councils will agree between themselves who should provide the Committee member at any one time and clearly we would expect that person to ensure that they properly represent issues of concern to the other councils.

Hydro Electricity

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which organisation undertook the technical assessment of the hydro-electric potential of the River Cam on the Littlecombe site in Dursley; how the decision that hydro-electric power from this source was not a viable proposition was communicated to the Environment Agency; and what the basis was for this conclusion.

Ian Pearson: An agent acting on behalf of the owner of the site undertook the technical assessment.
	The Environment Agency does not know how the decision was taken. They have not received any technical assessment or report relating to this site. At a meeting to discuss the development proposals, an Environment Agency officer was informed by the agent that the joint planning applicants for this site, St. Modwens Developments Limited and the South West of England Regional Development Agency, will not be proceeding with any hydro-electric power scheme. They did not give a reason for this.

Meat Imports

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much beef was imported into the UK from Brazil in  (a) May,  (b) June,  (c) July and  (d) August of each year since 2000.

Ben Bradshaw: The following table shows imports of beef and beef products into the UK from Brazil for the months May to August for the years 2000 to 2005.
	
		
			   Beef product  Beef (frozen)  Beef (fresh or chilled) 
			   Tonnes  £000  Tonnes  £000  Tonnes  £000 
			  2000   
			 May 4,567 5,433 1,922 2,713 467 1,497 
			 June 4,425 5,839 3,188 4,199 582 1,941 
			 July 4,990 6,517 1,090 1,661 367 1,006 
			 August 4,590 6,521 1,584 2,220 560 1,602 
			
			  2001   
			 May 4,554 6,185 1,205 1,534 166 484 
			 June 4,388 6,193 978 1,186 80 206 
			 July 4,139 5,735 1,320 1,813 348 833 
			 August 4,795 6,643 1,646 2,109 927 2,085 
			
			  2002   
			 May 4,871 6,260 857 1,096 657 1,586 
			 June 4,434 5,753 1,076 1,366 501 1,108 
			 July 4,147 5,345 730 1,086 634 1,363 
			 August 4,358 5,166 1,039 1,231 540 1,146 
			
			  2003   
			 May 5,005 4,993 2,557 2,496 1,191 2,424 
			 June 3,878 4,180 1,592 1,734 1,075 2,429 
			 July 4,965 4,856 802 827 1,196 2,789 
			 August 4,520 5,038 1,549 1,706 956 2,736 
			
			  2004   
			 May 4,201 4,987 1,875 2,312 1,202 3,414 
			 June 3,071 3,878 2,434 3,157 1,796 4,894 
			 July 4,615 5,710 1,842 2,310 1,631 4,033 
			 August 5,452 6,702 1,965 2,524 1,879 4,408 
			
			  2005   
			 May 3,699 4,580 2,279 2,817 1,625 4,289 
			 June 4,466 5,956 2,424 3,313 1,672 4,618 
			 July 4,177 6,053 988 1,375 1,524 3,643 
			 August 6,306 9,391 832 1,345 1,602 3,571 
			  Source:  H M Revenue and Customs Data prepared by Trade statistics, Agricultural Statistics and Analysis Division, DEFRA 2005 data is subject to amendments

Plastic Bags

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the environmental impact of disposable plastic bags; and what support he is giving to research into bio-degradable alternatives.

Ben Bradshaw: Plastic carrier bags make up 0.3 per cent. of the domestic waste stream and between 0.1 per cent. and 1 per cent. of visible litter. These figures are derived from municipal waste statistics and a visible litter survey conducted by INCPEN in 2004.
	The Environment Agency is currently carrying out a study to consider the environmental impacts of a range of carrier bags (including disposable plastic carrier bags and bio-degradable alternatives) over their entire life-cycle, from raw material extraction through to product manufacture, use and final disposal. The study is due to report by the end of 2006.
	The National Non-Food Crops Centre has also started work on Life Cycle Analysis comparison of plastic, oxodegradable and biodegradable bags, which will be available by March 2007. They have established a Thematic Working Group on Biopolymers which aims to promote and facilitate the expansion of this sector. Biopolymers are derived from renewable sources and can be used in a range of products including bags, which helps to develop a sustainable supply chain.

Plastic Bags

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the impact on the environment of the  (a) production and  (b) use of plastic bags; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: holding answer 4 July 2006
	Plastic carrier bags make up 0.3 per cent. of the domestic waste stream and between 0.1 per cent. and 1 per cent. of visible litter. These figures are derived from municipal waste statistics and a visible litter survey conducted by the Industry Council for Packaging and the Environment (INCPEN) in 2004.
	DEFRA is working closely with the Waste and Resources Action programme (WRAP) and the industry to promote re-usable bags and encourage other sustainable schemes that will reduce the number of plastic bags produced and discarded.
	The Environment Agency is currently carrying out a study to consider the environmental impacts of a range of carrier bags (including disposable plastic carrier bags and bio-degradable alternatives) over their entire life-cycle, from raw material extraction through to product manufacture, use and final disposal. The study is due to report by the end of 2006.

Plastic Bags

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what recent discussions he has had with supermarkets about the production and use of plastic bags; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what steps he is taking  (a) to reduce the production and use of and  (b) to encourage the recycling of plastic bags; and if he will make a statement;

Ben Bradshaw: DEFRA, the Welsh Assembly Government and the Scottish Executive have asked the Waste and Resources Action programme (WRAP) to carry out research on voluntary ways of reducing the number of free carrier bags taken by consumers from shops and supermarkets.
	WRAP has recently conducted a pilot "Choose to Reuse" campaign to encourage consumers to reuse bags, whether they choose to purchase a "Bag for Life" made available through retailer schemes, or to bring their own bag with them each time they shop. The campaign was set up with a particular emphasis on supermarket shopping since the vast majority of disposable free carrier bags are dispensed from these stores, and the frequency of visits enabled a more focused campaign with the aim of having the greatest impact on the consumer.
	The pilots took place in two areas—Edinburgh and Bristol—running from mid-September until the end of November 2005. Retailers were invited to join in the campaign by WRAP and also encouraged by the British Retail Consortium, Scottish Retail Consortium and the Scottish Executive (in Edinburgh). The supermarket chains that decided to take part included ASDA, Tesco, Somerfield, Co-op, Scotmid and Waitrose.
	The results will be published soon, and we will then look at how this work can be developed further.

Research Centre Closures

Ian Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he expects to be able to respond to the letter of 30 January 2006 to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Home Office on proposals to close research centres under the Science and Innovation Strategy 2005 to 2008 which was subsequently transferred to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in his Department in April 2006.

Ben Bradshaw: I apologise for the delay in replying to the hon. Member's letter. A response will be issued shortly.

Rural Enterprise Scheme

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the Rural Enterprise scheme programme was ended; and how many applications were outstanding at that date, including those to which funding had been committed.

Barry Gardiner: The Rural Enterprise scheme (RES) closed to new applications on Friday 30 June 2006.
	As of 6 July 2006, and across the whole country, some 641 applications for funding were undergoing validity and eligibility checks and technical assessment, or had completed those stages and were awaiting the next regional appraisal panel for them to be considered for funding.
	Not all of these applications will ultimately be eligible for funding, and of those that are, Rural Development Service staff will have to consider which best meet the criteria of the scheme and offer best value for the limited funding that remains, in the context of regional priorities.

Rural Enterprise Scheme

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs why Business Link was advertising the Rural Enterprise scheme after all the relevant funds had been committed.

Barry Gardiner: The Rural Enterprise scheme (RES) closed to new applications on Friday 30 June 2006. All eligible applications received by DEFRA's Rural Development Service up till that date are now being considered for the remaining funding on their merits and in competition with other projects.
	DEFRA officials will work with Business Link to ensure that information on the scheme is updated appropriately.

Single Farm Payments

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many single farm payments  (a) are outstanding and  (b) have been made in each English region by the Rural Payments Agency; and if he will make a statement.

Barry Gardiner: The total number of Single Payment Scheme customers is approximately 120,000. As at 30 June, an estimated 8,500 claimants have yet to receive a payment. Approximately 460 currently have a claim value of more than €1,000.
	Details of payments made in England up to 30 June 2006, including by constituency and county, will be published in due course.

Single Farm Payments

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many people have yet to be paid any of their single farm payment; why the Rural Payments Agency computer was shut down between 27 May and 5 June; and for what reasons payments have yet to be made to eligible claimants.

Barry Gardiner: By close of business on 13 June 2006, 107,888 customers had received a full or partial payment. This means approximately 8,500 customers are yet to receive any payment. However, the vast majority of these claims are worth less than €1,000.
	The computer system used by the Rural Payments Agency needed to be upgraded. This work was timed over the Bank Holiday weekend to minimise the impact on the business, but work carried on offline to continue processing and validation.
	The reasons why customers have not received their payment yet vary widely between individuals but include customer registration issues, outstanding dual claims and Rural Land Register discrepancies.

Single Farm Payments

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many farmers who have  (a) valid claims,  (b) part paid claims and  (c) queried claims have yet to receive their full single farm payment.

Barry Gardiner: holding answer 15 June 2006
	The Rural Payments Agency is responsible for the administration of the Single Payment Scheme. As of 4 July 2006, 24,723 of an estimated claim population of 116,474 had not received their 2005 scheme payment in full. Some 16,176 farmers had received a partial payment and are awaiting the balance payment. The vast majority of the remaining 24,723 claims still have queries to resolve.

Veterinary Surgeons

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans he has to encourage recruitment of veterinary surgeons to large animal veterinary practices; and how this is incorporated into the Government's animal health strategy.

Ben Bradshaw: We are working in partnership with the veterinary profession to ensure that we have a sustainable large animal veterinary sector, which is able to play a full and effective part in the implementation of the animal health and welfare strategy, There are a range of challenges facing large animal veterinary practice and many of these are principally for the veterinary profession to address. I therefore welcome the recent Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons' (RCVS) symposium "Postcards from the Future", as a very helpful contribution to the ongoing dialogue.
	We are training more veterinary surgeons than ever before and there is evidence that large animal work is still attractive to students. However, there are issues about the retention of newly qualified vets which were identified by research jointly funded by DEFRA and the RCVS. The RCVS's initiatives on professional development phase and practice standards are examples of steps taken by the profession to help ensure that farm animal veterinary work provides a challenging and rewarding career for new graduates.
	We are also working with the profession to better understand the trends within large animal veterinary practice and contributed to the RCVS 2006 Manpower survey. This information will help establish a stronger evidence base which should help keep the profession informed on key issues like recruitment and retention.

Water Companies

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will make it his policy to bring all water companies back into public ownership; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: No. Since the English and Welsh water and sewerage companies were privatised in 1989 they have become much more efficient and have greatly improved our drinking water quality and the water environment.

LEADER OF THE HOUSE

EU Legislation

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Leader of the House what plans he has to improve the scrutiny of EU legislation.

Jack Straw: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Leicester, East (Keith Vaz) on 10 July 2006,  Official Report, column 1560W.

Official Visits

David Simpson: To ask the Leader of the House on how many occasions he has visited each region in an official capacity in the last 12 months.

Jack Straw: Since being appointed on 5 May 2006, I have made no official visits to the regions in my capacity as Leader of the House. However, as Chair of the Select Committee on Modernisation, I visited the National Assembly for Wales in Cardiff on 7 June, with other committee members, as part of the Committee's inquiry into the legislative process.

Parliamentary and Health Ombudsman

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Leader of the House if he will allocate a slot during oral question time for an hon. Member appointed to take questions on the work of the parliamentary and health ombudsman.

Jack Straw: I have no plans to do so.
	Issues relating to the work and the office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration can be raised with relevant departmental Ministers.

Parliamentary Questions

Piara S Khabra: To ask the Leader of the House what the cost to the Government was of administering written questions to Ministers in 2005-06.

Jack Straw: The cost of answering a written question as notified to the House by the former Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Mr. Timms) on 22 March 2005,  Official Report, column 47WS, is £134.00.
	The cost to Government of answering the total of 78,152 written questions (ordinary and named day) tabled from the start of the current session until 30 June 2006 is estimated to be £10,472,368. This sum does not include costs of printing and those of the House.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Foreign Language Courses

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what research the Department has  (a) commissioned and  (b) evaluated on the merits for students studying English language to be able to compare it with foreign languages.

Jim Knight: The Department is currently in the process of commissioning research which, through case studies, will assess the impact of modern foreign language learning on Key Stage 2 pupils over three years. This will include exploring whether language learning impacts on the attainment levels of other subjects such as English. The research is expected to report in the autumn 2009.

Free School Meals

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many secondary school pupils were eligible for free school meals in each local authority listed in ascending order in  (a) the last year for which figures are available and  (b) 1997; and what percentage of secondary school pupils took up free school meals in each year.

Jim Knight: The available information is shown in the following tables.
	
		
			  Maintained secondary schools: number and percentage of pupils by school meal arrangements. Position in January each year 1997 and 2006 (provisional). By local authority area. (In ascending order of the percentage of pupils who were known to be eligible for free school meals as at January 2006). 
			1997 
			Number of day pupils( 1)  Number of pupils taking a free school meal on the census day  Percentage of pupils taking a free school meal on the census day( 2)  Number of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals  Percentage of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals( 3) 
			  England(5) 3,036,990 381,240 12.6 552,900 18.2 
			
			 420 Isles of Scilly 80 * * 8 10.0 
			 201 City of London 0 0 0.0 0 0.0 
			 857 Rutland(6) — — — — — 
			 872 Wokingham(6) — — — — — 
			 868 Windsor and Maidenhead(6) — — — — — 
			 867 Bracknell Forest(6) — — — — — 
			 865 Wiltshire(6) — — — — — 
			 869 West Berkshire(6) — — — — — 
			 825 Buckinghamshire(6) — — — — — 
			 836 Poole(6) — — — — — 
			 855 Leicestershire(6) — — — — — 
			 815 North Yorkshire 36,975 2,044 5.5 2,666 7.2 
			 835 Dorset(6) — — — — — 
			 938 West Sussex 40,295 2,511 6.2 3,657 9.1 
			 936 Surrey 51,544 2,957 5.7 3,974 7.7 
			 800 Bath and North East Somerset 11,483 896 7.8 1,165 10.1 
			 925 Lincolnshire 39,801 3,080 7.7 4,304 10.8 
			 919 Hertfordshire 70,682 5,072 7.2 6,570 9.3 
			 916 Gloucestershire 34,961 2,781 8.0 3,471 9.9 
			 850 Hampshire(6) — — — — — 
			 937 Warwickshire 30,280 2,036 6.7 2,735 9.0 
			 803 South Gloucestershire 15,216 1.075 7.1 1,628 10.7 
			 928 Northamptonshire 45,934 4,637 10.1 6,294 13.7 
			 893 Shropshire(6) — — — — — 
			 811 East Riding of Yorkshire 20,789 1,315 6.3 1,968 9.5 
			 877 Warrington(6) — — — — — 
			 319 Sutton 12.416 823 6.6 1,094 8.8 
			 931 Oxfordshire 36,456 2,375 6.5 3,381 9.3 
			 933 Somerset 28,442 2,276 8.0 2,904 10.2 
			 314 Kingston upon Thames 8,184 599 7.3 783 9.6 
			 860 Staffordshire(6) — — — — — 
			 873 Cambridgeshire(6) — — — — — 
			 885 Worcestershire(6) — — — — — 
			 875 Cheshire(6) — — — — — 
			 878 Devon(6) — — — — — 
			 816 York 9,320 793 8.5 1,058 11.4 
			 887 Medway(6) — — — — — 
			 884 Herefordshire(6) — — — — — 
			 802 North Somerset 11,882 833 7.0 1,208 10.2 
			 303 Bexley 15,317 1,389 9.1 2,164 14.1 
			 886 Kent(6) — — — — — 
			 881 Essex(6) — — — — — 
			 935 Suffolk 49,607 4,588 9.2 6,668 13.4 
			 866 Swindon(6) — — — — — 
			 830 Derbyshire(6) — — — — — 
			 311 Havering 14,703 1,276 8.7 1,788 12.2 
			 358 Trafford 13,225 1,987 15.0 2,886 21.8 
			 908 Cornwall 29.798 3,663 12.3 4,901 16.4 
			 820 Bedfordshire(6) — — — — — 
			 305 Bromley 18,648 2,081 11.2 2,730 14.6 
			 826 Milton Keynes(6) — — — — — 
			 929 Northumberland 29,988 3,252 10.8 4,163 13.9 
			 926 Norfolk 41,131 3,134 7.6 4,484 10.9 
			 845 East Sussex(6) — — — — — 
			 392 North Tyneside 14,369 2,048 14.3 2,850 19.8 
			 909 Cumbria 32,289 3,203 9.9 4,387 13.6 
			 334 Solihull 14,387 1,363 9.5 1,838 12.8 
			 813 North Lincolnshire 10,398 1,183 11.4 1,613 15.5 
			 891 Nottinghamshire(6) — — — — — 
			 837 Bournemouth(6) — — — — — 
			 879 Plymouth(6) — — — — — 
			 356 Stockport 15,677 1.813 11.6 2,618 16.7 
			 882 Southend-on-Sea(6) — — — — — 
			 381 Calderdale 14,067 1,567 11.1 2,453 17.4 
			 880 Torbay(6) — — — — — 
			 888 Lancashire(6) — — — — — 
			 351 Bury 11,100 1,232 11.1 1,700 15.3 
			 870 Reading(6) — — — — — 
			 359 Wigan 19,984 2,467 12.3 3.544 17.7 
			 883 Thurrock(6) — — — — — 
			 371 Doncaster 20.734 2.790 13.5 4,604 22.2 
			 384 Wakefield 19,756 2,047 10.4 3,610 18.3 
			 841 Darlington(6) — — — — — 
			 871 Slough(6) — — — — — 
			 394 Sunderland 19.199 2,401 12.5 4.936 25.7 
			 921 Isle of Wight 10,969 1,508 13.7 2,157 19.7 
			 302 Barnet 19,783 2,568 13.0 3,188 16.1 
			 851 Portsmouth(6) — — — — — 
			 332 Dudley 18.559 2,174 11.7 3,178 17.1 
			 350 Bolton 17,798 2,175 12.2 3,393 19.1 
			 846 Brighton and Hove(6) — — — — — 
			 343 Sefton 19,630 3,254 16.6 4,576 23.3 
			 317 Redbridge 16,842 2,030 12.1 3,114 18.5 
			 315 Merton 7.619 1,082 14.2 1,487 19.5 
			 372 Rotherham 19,014 1,886 9.9 3.445 18.1 
			 382 Kirklees 25,564 3,532 13.8 4,959 19.4 
			 874 Peterborough(6) — — — — — 
			 808 Stockton-on-Tees 12.517 1.652 13.2 2,913 23.3 
			 831 Derby(6) — — — — — 
			 373 Sheffield 27,447 3,893 14.2 7.117 25.9 
			 840 Durham(6) — — — — — 
			 318 Richmond upon Thames 7,688 979 12.7 1,438 18.7 
			 331 Coventry 19,738 2,533 12.8 4,273 21.6 
			 894 Telford and Wrekin(6) — — — — — 
			 335 Walsall 20.078 2.788 13.9 4,543 22.6 
			 342 St. Helens 11,873 1,699 14.3 2,263 19.1 
			 390 Gateshead 11,745 1,651 14.1 2,731 23.3 
			 852 Southampton(6) — — — — — 
			 357 Tameside 14,220 2,236 15.7 3,146 22.1 
			 383 Leeds 44,423 5,631 12.7 8,698 19.6 
			 812 North East Lincolnshire 11,185 1,659 14.8 2,346 21.0 
			 312 Hillingdon 15,010 1,774 11.8 2,232 14.9 
			 370 Barnsley 12,932 1,953 15.1 3,153 24.4 
			 801 Bristol, City of 16,518 2,912 17.6 4,070 24.6 
			 306 Croydon 15,481 2,669 17.2 3,522 22.8 
			 876 Halton(6) — — — — — 
			 313 Hounslow 15,286 2,655 17.4 3,585 23.5 
			 336 Wolverhampton 15,838 2,388 15.1 3,776 23.8 
			 308 Enfield 18,959 2,532 13.4 4,092 21.6 
			 890 Blackpool(6) — — — — — 
			 805 Hartlepool 6,176 1,157 18.7 1,919 31.1 
			 353 Oldham 16,676 2,879 17.3 4.007 24.0 
			 861 Stoke-on-Trent(6) — — — — — 
			 310 Harrow 8,304 1,070 12.9 1,464 17.6 
			 807 Redcar and Cleveland 10,161 1,683 16.6 2,711 26.7 
			 810 Kingston Upon Hull, City of 15,082 2,965 19.7 4.378 29.0 
			 391 Newcastle upon Tyne 17,378 3,120 18.0 4.938 28.4 
			 333 Sandwell 19,087 2,533 13.3 4,776 25.0 
			 355 Salford 12,078 2,539 21.0 3,551 29.4 
			 393 South Tyneside 9,724 1,760 18.1 2,657 27.3 
			 856 Leicester(6) — — — — — 
			 304 Brent 13,565 2,845 21.0 3,459 25.5 
			 344 Wirral 23,078 4,425 19.2 5,931 25.7 
			 821 Luton(6) — — — — — 
			 889 Blackburn with Darwen(6) — — — — — 
			 380 Bradford 46,179 9,760 21.1 14,079 30.5 
			 212 Wandsworth 9.280 2,512 27.1 3.388 36.5 
			 354 Rochdale 13.168 2,677 20.3 3,612 27.4 
			 307 Ealing 14,182 3,334 23.5 4,386 30.9 
			 320 Waltham Forest 11,835 2,988 25.2 4,148 35.0 
			 207 Kensington and Chelsea 3,313 961 29.0 1.350 40.7 
			 209 Lewisham 10,857 3,135 28.9 4,519 41.6 
			 203 Greenwich 13.644 3.505 25.7 5,447 39.9 
			 892 Nottingham(6) — — — — — 
			 301 Barking and Dagenham 10,143 1,783 17.6 2,677 26.4 
			 205 Hammersmith and Fulham 6.040 1,570 26.0 2,157 35.7 
			 341 Liverpool 31,767 9,645 30.4 13,289 41.8 
			 806 Middlesbrough 8,608 1,770 20.6 3,233 37.6 
			 202 Camden 10,932 2.031 18.6 3.180 29.1 
			 330 Birmingham 66.867 15,778 23.6 23,337 34.9 
			 213 Westminster 7,657 2,045 26.7 3,349 43.7 
			 340 Knowsley 9,670 3,528 36.5 5,271 54.5 
			 309 Haringey 10.069 3,135 31.1 4,895 46.6 
			 208 Lambeth 6,589 2.538 38.5 3,486 52.9 
			 204 Hackney 7,347 3,126 42.5 4,289 58.4 
			 316 Newham 15,655 4,118 26.3 6,478 41.4 
			 352 Manchester 21.129 7,022 33.2 9.907 46.9 
			 210 Southward 9,157 4,040 44.1 5,153 56.3 
			 206 Islington 7,580 2,866 37.8 4,440 58.6 
			 211 Tower Hamlets 13.060 3,713 28.4 8,555 65.5 
			 902 Bedfordshire 46,378 5,843 12.6 8.408 18.1 
			 903 Berkshire 49,565 3,930 7.9 4,702 9.5 
			 904 Buckinghamshire 38,257 2.504 6.5 3,769 9.9 
			 905 Cambridge 41,988 3,899 9.3 5,712 13.6 
			 906 Cheshire 65,767 8,716 10.2 8,999 13.7 
			 910 Derbyshire 58,849 5,894 10.0 8,288 14.1 
			 911 Devon 62,022 6,379 10.3 7,939 12.8 
			 912 Dorset 43,497 3.323 7.6 4,365 10.0 
			 913 Durham 37,976 4,623 12.2 7,283 19.2 
			 914 East Sussex 36,281 4,309 11.9 6.346 17.5 
			 915 Essex 97,620 9,236 9.5 12,537 12.8 
			 917 Hampshire 86,176 7,253 B.4 9,321 10.8 
			 918 Hereford and Worcester 47,636 3,404 7.1 4,822 10.1 
			 922 Kent 104,499 10,303 9.9 14,496 13.9 
			 923 Lancashire 87,257 11,777 13.5 17,675 20.3 
			 924 Leicestershire 61,748 5,783 9.4 7,850 12.7 
			 930 Nottinghamshire 65.364 8,322 12.7 13,295 20.3 
			 932 Shropshire 25,987 2,574 9.9 3,442 13.2 
			 934 Staffordshire 71.712 6,344 8.8 9,638 13.4 
			 939 Wiltshire 36.545 2,870 7.9 3,600 9.9 
		
	
	
		
			2006 (provisional) 
			Number of pupils on roll( 4)  Number of pupils taking a free school meal on the census day  Percentage of pupils taking a free school meal on the census day( 2)  Number of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals  Percentage of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals( 3) 
			  England(5) 3,310,030 328,640 9.9 448,610 13.6 
			
			 420 Isles of Scilly 0 0 0.0 0 0.0 
			 201 City of London 0 0 0.0 0 0.0 
			 857 Rutland(6) 2,412 66 2.7 91 3.8 
			 872 Wokingham(6) 10,854 372 3.4 483 4.4 
			 868 Windsor and Maidenhead(6) 10,283 317 3.1 465 4.5 
			 867 Bracknell Forest(6) 6,209 193 3.1 292 4.7 
			 865 Wiltshire(6) 29,454 1,155 3.9 1,505 5.1 
			 869 West Berkshire(6) 12,246 493 4.0 626 5.1 
			 825 Buckinghamshire(6) 35,179 1,440 4.1 1,896 5.4 
			 836 Poole(6) 8,696 401 4.6 485 5.6 
			 855 Leicestershire(6) 46,797 2,073 4.4 2,629 5.6 
			 815 North Yorkshire 41,915 1,744 4.2 2,454 5.9 
			 835 Dorset(6) 30,229 1,280 4.2 1,784 5.9 
			 938 West Sussex 45,883 2,035 4.4 2,769 6.0 
			 936 Surrey 58,760 2,296 3.9 3,573 6.1 
			 800 Bath and North East Somerset 12,625 589 4.7 789 6.2 
			 925 Lincolnshire 48,456 2,241 4.6 3,099 6.4 
			 919 Hertfordshire 80,324 4,473 5.6 5,244 6.5 
			 916 Gloucestershire 40.736 2,160 5.3 2,667 6.5 
			 850 Hampshire(6) 72,727 3,530 4.9 4,813 6.6 
			 937 Warwickshire 34,321 1.614 4.7 2,284 6.7 
			 803 South Gloucestershire 17,113 596 3.5 1,155 6.7 
			 928 Northamptonshire 45,399 2.358 5.2 3,065 6.8 
			 893 Shropshire(6) 18,108 882 4.9 1,304 7.2 
			 811 East Riding of Yorkshire 23,563 1,103 4.7 1,704 7.2 
			 877 Warrington(6) 14.048 788 5.6 1,042 7.4 
			 319 Sutton 16,168 915 5.7 1.216 7.5 
			 931 Oxfordshire 37,801 2,084 5.5 2.869 7.6 
			 933 Somerset 33,154 1,874 5.7 2,529 7.6 
			 314 Kingston upon Thames 9,586 591 6.2 735 7.7 
			 860 Staffordshire(6) 60,948 3,366 5.5 4,777 7.8 
			 873 Cambridgeshire(6) 32,765 1,894 5.8 2,624 8.0 
			 885 Worcestershire(6) 40.883 2,415 5.9 3,289 8.0 
			 875 Cheshire(6) 46.967 2,910 6.2 3,782 8.1 
			 878 Devon(6) 43,435 2,526 5.8 3,516 8.1 
			 816 York 10,228 572 5.6 833 8.1 
			 887 Medway(6) 20,493 1,317 6.4 1,674 8.2 
			 884 Herefordshire(6) 10,405 534 5.1 852 8.2 
			 802 North Somerset 13,003 783 6.0 1,067 8.2 
			 303 Bexley 18,400 1,008 5.5 1,513 8.2 
			 886 Kent(6) 99,085 5,869 5.9 8,179 8.3 
			 881 Essex(6) 91,140 5,841 6.4 7.595 8.3 
			 935 Suffolk 54.201 3.300 6.1 4,774 8.8 
			 866 Swindon(6) 11,630 776 6.7 1,041 9.0 
			 830 Derbyshire(6) 50,968 3.423 6.7 4,714 9.2 
			 311 Havering 16.597 1,083 6.5 1,538 9.3 
			 358 Trafford 16,255 1,275 7.8 1,517 9.3 
			 908 Cornwall 32,893 2.469 7.5 3,145 9.6 
			 820 Bedfordshire(6) 37,703 2,515 6.7 3,628 9.6 
			 305 Bromley 22,489 1,722 7.7 2,200 9.8 
			 826 Milton Keynes(6) 15,105 1,342 8.9 1,507 10.0 
			 929 Northumberland 29,978 2,585 8.6 3,009 10.0 
			 926 Norfolk 46,938 3,248 6.9 4,725 10.1 
			 845 East Sussex(6) 28,732 2,310 8.0 2,953 10.3 
			 392 North Tyneside 13,665 1,047 7.7 1,468 10.7 
			 909 Cumbria 35,676 2,768 7.8 3,916 11.0 
			 334 Solihull 15,559 1,144 7.4 1,739 11.2 
			 813 North Lincolnshire 10,777 873 8.1 1,220 11.3 
			 891 Nottinghamshire(6) 55,028 3,937 7.2 6,248 11.4 
			 837 Bournemouth(6) 9,901 827 8.4 1,134 11.5 
			 879 Plymouth(6) 18,614 1.401 7.5 2,145 11.5 
			 356 Stockport 16.364 1.296 7.9 1,919 11.7 
			 882 Southend-on-Sea(6) 12,601 1.124 8.9 1,480 11.7 
			 381 Calderdale 15,544 1,414 9.1 1,916 12.3 
			 880 Torbay(6) 9,237 792 8.6 1,152 12.5 
			 888 Lancashire(6) 75,155 7.881 10.5 9,449 12.6 
			 351 Bury 11,808 1,247 10.6 1,538 13.0 
			 870 Reading(6) 6,068 569 9.4 799 13.2 
			 359 Wigan 20,897 1.954 9.4 2.821 13.5 
			 883 Thurrock(6) 8,843 879 9.9 1,202 13.6 
			 371 Doncaster 20,428 1.732 8.5 2,786 13.6 
			 384 Wakefield 22,316 2.196 9.8 3,059 13.7 
			 841 Darlington(6) 6,262 719 11.5 861 13.7 
			 871 Slough(6) 8.917 912 10.2 1,272 14.3 
			 394 Sunderland 19,196 1,833 9.5 2,762 14.4 
			 921 Isle of Wight 12,166 1.395 11.5 1,751 14.4 
			 302 Barnet 19,558 2,302 11.8 2,855 14.6 
			 851 Portsmouth(6) 9,893 932 9.4 1,445 14.6 
			 332 Dudley 20,756 1,957 9.4 3.037 14.6 
			 350 Bolton 19,643 2.162 11.0 2.931 14.9 
			 846 Brighton and Hove(6) 12,190 1.479 12.1 1,825 15.0 
			 343 Sefton 20,419 2,088 10.2 3,127 15.3 
			 317 Redbridge 20,654 2,411 11.7 3,198 15.5 
			 315 Merton 8,627 1,035 12.0 1.339 15.5 
			 372 Rotherham 20.373 1,975 9.7 3,189 15.7 
			 382 Kirklees 26,656 3.000 11.3 4,174 15.7 
			 874 Peterborough(6) 13,188 1.639 12.4 2,068 15.7 
			 808 Stockton-on-Tees 12,613 1,179 9.3 1,999 15.8 
			 831 Derby(6) 15,675 1,911 12.2 2,513 16.0 
			 373 Sheffield 31,437 3,475 11.1 5,058 16.1 
			 840 Durham(6) 32,508 3,272 10.1 5,304 16.3 
			 318 Richmond upon Thames 7.170 933 13.0 1,172 16.3 
			 331 Coventry 21,214 2,781 13.1 3,521 16.6 
			 894 Telford and Wrekin(6) 10,539 1,231 11.7 1,750 16.6 
			 335 Walsall 21,062 2,287 10.9 3,541 16.8 
			 342 St. Helens 11,807 1,318 11.2 1,997 16.9 
			 390 Gateshead 11,776 1,402 11.9 1,992 16.9 
			 852 Southampton(6) 11,541 1,340 11.6 1.961 17.0 
			 357 Tameside 15,692 2,038 13.0 2,694 17.2 
			 383 Leeds 47,860 5,338 11.2 8,294 17.3 
			 812 North East Lincolnshire 11,075 1,241 11.2 1,930 17.4 
			 312 Hillingdon 17,094 2.492 14.6 2,979 17.4 
			 370 Barnsley 13,744 1,456 10.6 2,427 17.7 
			 801 Bristol, City of 15,524 2,168 14.0 2,766 17.8 
			 306 Croydon 18,722 2,659 14.2 3,404 18.2 
			 876 Halton(6) 8,059 1,073 13.3 1,481 18.4 
			 313 Hounslow 16,600 2,525 15.2 3,083 18.6 
			 336 Wolverhampton 16,973 1,999 11.8 3,168 18.7 
			 308 Enfield 22,172 3.104 14.0 4,175 18.8 
			 890 Blackpool(6) 8,655 1.380 15.9 1,658 19.2 
			 805 Hartlepool 6,465 1,053 16.3 1,244 19.2 
			 353 Oldham 16,548 2,317 14.0 3,186 19.3 
			 861 Stoke-on-Trent(6) 14,697 1,946 13.2 2,851 19.4 
			 310 Harrow 9,039 1,569 17.4 1.774 19.6 
			 807 Redcar and Cleveland 10,018 1,149 11.5 1.991 19.9 
			 810 Kingston Upon Hull, City of 15,778 1.976 12.5 3.188 20.2 
			 391 Newcastle upon Tyne 16,756 2,198 13.1 3,447 20.6 
			 333 Sandwell 19,878 2,557 12.9 4.242 21.3 
			 355 Salford 11,827 2,033 17.2 2,578 21.8 
			 393 South Tyneside 9,984 1,297 13.0 2,182 21.9 
			 856 Leicester(6) 17.902 3,036 17.0 3.941 22.0 
			 304 Brent 16,418 2,695 16.4 3,701 22.5 
			 344 Wirral 24,101 4,009 16.6 5,469 22.7 
			 821 Luton(6) 12,305 2,019 16.4 2.865 23.3 
			 889 Blackburn with Darwen(6) 9,419 1.690 17.9 2,245 23.8 
			 380 Bradford 34,263 5,804 16.9 8.170 23.8 
			 212 Wandsworth 10,443 1,987 19.0 2.498 23.9 
			 354 Rochdale 14,162 2,377 16.8 3.472 24.5 
			 307 Ealing 15,205 2.923 19.2 3.851 25.3 
			 320 Waltham Forest 14,105 2,735 19.4 3,627 25.7 
			 207 Kensington and Chelsea 3.516 745 21.2 917 26.1 
			 209 Lewisham 11,033 2,150 19.5 2,906 26.3 
			 203 Greenwich 14,576 2,978 20.4 4,069 27.9 
			 892 Nottingham(6) 13.634 2,667 19.6 3,886 28.5 
			 301 Barking and Dagenham 12,638 2,561 20.3 3,633 28.7 
			 205 Hammersmith and Fulham 6,861 1,595 23.2 1.990 29.0 
			 341 Liverpool 32,179 6,972 21.7 9,599 29.8 
			 806 Middlesbrough 5,590 1,041 18.6 1.727 30.9 
			 202 Camden 9,961 2,432 24.4 3.136 31.5 
			 330 Birmingham 70,553 17,600 24.9 22.302 31.6 
			 213 Westminster 8,407 2,243 26.7 2,750 32.7 
			 340 Knowsley 9,528 2,135 22.4 3,227 33.9 
			 309 Haringey 11,679 3.406 29.2 4,064 34.8 
			 208 Lambeth 8,058 2,718 33.7 3.012 37.4 
			 204 Hackney 6.990 2,212 31.6 2,673 38.2 
			 316 Newham 18,395 5,607 30.5 7,404 40.3 
			 352 Manchester 23.545 6,734 28.6 9,632 40.9 
			 210 Southward 10,304 3,860 37.5 4,413 42.8 
			 206 Islington 8,077 2,617 32.4 3,472 43.0 
			 211 Tower Hamlets 14,419 6,731 46.7 8,566 59.4 
			 902 Bedfordshire — — — — — 
			 903 Berkshire — — — — — 
			 904 Buckinghamshire — — — — — 
			 905 Cambridge — — — — — 
			 906 Cheshire — — — — — 
			 910 Derbyshire — — — — — 
			 911 Devon — — — — — 
			 912 Dorset — — — — — 
			 913 Durham — — — — — 
			 914 East Sussex — — — — — 
			 915 Essex — — — — — 
			 917 Hampshire — — — — — 
			 918 Hereford and Worcester — — — — — 
			 922 Kent — — — — — 
			 923 Lancashire — — — — — 
			 924 Leicestershire — — — — — 
			 930 Nottinghamshire — — — — — 
			 932 Shropshire — — — — — 
			 934 Staffordshire — — — — — 
			 939 Wiltshire — — — — — 
			 * One or two pupils or a rate based on one or two pupils. (1) Includes dually registered pupils. Excludes boarding pupils. (2) The number of pupils taking a free school meal on the census day expressed as a percentage of the number of pupils on roll. (3) The number of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals expressed as a percentage of the number of pupils on roll. (4) Includes dually registered pupils. Includes boarding pupils. (5) National totals have been rounded to the nearest 10. (6) Before local government reorganisation.  Source: Schools' Census

Physical Education

Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many and what proportion of children aged five to 16-years-old in the East Riding of Yorkshire take part in at least two hours of high-quality physical education and school sport each week; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: Data from the 2004/05 survey of schools in school sport partnerships found that 80 per cent. of five to 16-year-olds in East Riding of Yorkshire took part in at least two hours-high-quality PE and school sport each week.

School Attendance

Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the rate of school attendance was in the East Riding of Yorkshire for 11 to 16 year olds in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: Figures for the proportion of half days missed due to absence in maintained mainstream secondary schools in East Riding of Yorkshire local authority are given in the following table:
	
		
			  Percentage of half days missed in maintained mainstream secondary schools( 1)  in East Riding of Yorkshire local authority due to absence( 2, 3) 
			   Percentage 
			   Authorised Absence  Unauthorised Absence 
			 1997-98 7.7 0.9 
			 1998-99 7.3 0.9 
			 1999-00 7.2 0.9 
			 2000-01 7.6 0.8 
			 2001-02 7.16 0.89 
			 2002-03 7.04 0.69 
			 2003-04 6.93 0.67 
			 2004-05 6.48 0.56 
			 (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2 )Due to local government reorganisation, regional figures are not available prior to 1998. (3 )Local authority figures are only available to 1 decimal place prior to 20001-02. 
		
	
	Authorised absence is absence with permission from a teacher or other authorised representative of the school. This includes instances of absence for which a satisfactory explanation has been provided (for example, illness).
	Unauthorised absence is absence without leave from a teacher or other authorised representative of the school. This includes all unexplained or unjustified absences, such as lateness, holidays during term time not authorised by the school, absence where reason is not yet established and truancy.

School Attendance

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the rate of school attendance was in Lancashire for 11 to 16 year olds in each year since 1997.

Jim Knight: Figures for the proportion of half days missed due to absence in maintained mainstream secondary schools in Lancashire local authority are given in the following table
	
		
			  Percentage of half days missed in Maintained Mainstream Secondary Schools( 1)  in Lancashire Local Authority due to absence( 2,3) 
			   Authorised absence  Unauthorised absence 
			 1997-98 7.6 0.8 
			 1998-99 7.8 0.9 
			 1999-2000 7.5 0.8 
			 2000-01 7.9 0.8 
			 2001-02 7.75 0.82 
			 2002-03 7.15 0.82 
			 2003-04 7.25 0.88 
			 2004-05 6.94 0.93 
			 (1) Includes middle schools as deemed.  (2) Due to local government reorganisation, regional figures are not available prior to 1998. (3 )Local authority figures are only available to 1 decimal place prior to 20001-02. 
		
	
	Authorised absence is absence with permission from a teacher or other authorised representative of the school. This includes instances of absence for which a satisfactory explanation has been provided (for example, illness).
	Unauthorised absence is absence without leave from a teacher or other authorised representative of the school. This includes all unexplained or unjustified absences, such as lateness, holidays during term time not authorised by the school, absence where reason is not yet established and truancy.

School Attendance

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of half days were missed due to unauthorised absence in maintained schools in  (a) Yeovil constituency,  (b) Somerset county and  (c) the South West in each year since 1997.

Jim Knight: The percentage of half days missed due to unauthorised absence in maintained mainstream schools in  (a) Yeovil constituency,  (b) Somerset local authority and  (c) the South West Government office region in each year since 1997-98 is as follows:
	
		
			  Percentage of half days missed in Maintained Mainstream Primary Schools( 1)  due to unauthorised absence( 2, 3) 
			   Percentage 
			   Yeovil constituency  Somerset local authority  South West Government office region 
			 1997/98 0.3 0.2 0.4 
			 1998/99 0.2 0.2 0.4 
			 1999/00 0.2 0.2 0.4 
			 2000/01 0.3 0.3 0.4 
			 2001/02 0.3 0.28 0.34 
			 2002/03 0.3 0.27 0.32 
			 2003/04 0.3 0.26 0.32 
			 2004/05 0.4 0.32 0.33 
		
	
	
		
			  Percentage of half days missed in Maintained Mainstream Secondary Schools( 1)  due to unauthorised absence( 2, 3) 
			   Percentage 
			   Yeovil constituency  Somerset local authority  South West Government office region 
			 1997/98 0.3 0.5 0.7 
			 1998/99 0.4 0.5 0.7 
			 1999/00 0.5 0.5 0.8 
			 2000/01 0.6 0.5 0.8 
			 2001/02 0.6 0.63 0.81 
			 2002/03 0.6 0.63 0.81 
			 2003/04 1.0 0.82 0.94 
			 2004/05 1.3 1.01 1.03 
			 (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) Due to local government reorganisation, regional figures are not available prior to 1998. (3 )Local authority and Government Office Region figures are only available to 1 decimal place prior to 2001-02. Constituency level figures are only available to 1 decimal place. 
		
	
	Unauthorised absence is absence without leave from a teacher or other authorised representative of the school. This includes all unexplained or unjustified absences, such as lateness, holidays during term time not authorised by the school, absence where reason is not yet established and truancy.

School Closures

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many  (a) primary and  (b) secondary schools have closed in (i) rural and (ii) non-rural areas in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: Local authorities are responsible for balancing the supply and demand of places in their areas to ensure schools serve the needs of their local communities and provide good quality education in the most cost effective way. As part of this, they need to determine the numbers of schools they need, taking into account the views and aspirations of parents and other stakeholders. Since February 1998 there has been a presumption against the closure of rural schools. Although this does not mean that no rural school will ever close, the case for closure needs to be strong and clearly in the best interests of education provision in the area.
	The numbers of primary and secondary schools that have closed in rural and urban areas each year since 1997 are listed in the following table.
	
		
			   Urban  Rural( 1) 
			   Primary  Secondary  Primary  Secondary 
			 1997 125 11 6 0 
			 1998 115 11 5 0 
			 1999 182 35 2 0 
			 2000 99 7 2 0 
			 2001 188 19 3 0 
			 2002 189 18 5 0 
			 2003 201 17 10 2 
			 2004 205 31 7 2 
			 2005 227 15 8 0 
			 2006(2) 224 21 6 0 
			 (1) The rural figures exclude amalgamations where two schools have been replaced by one new school on the same site. (2) The 2006 figures include schools that have been approved for closure during the current calendar year.

School Orchestras

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of secondary schools have a school orchestra.

Jim Knight: This information is not collected centrally.

Pupils (West Lancashire)

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many  (a) primary and  (b) secondary school age children normally resident in the West Lancashire district council area are being educated outside the local education authority area.

Jim Knight: The information requested has been provided in the following table.
	
		
			   Number of pupils( 1 ) residing within West Lancashire Local Authority District  Number of pupils( 1)  residing within West Lancashire Local Authority Attending schools outside of the Local Authority District  Percentage of pupils( 1)  residing within West Lancashire Local Authority Attending schools outside of the Local Authority District 
			 Primary(2) 7,739 437 5.6 
			 Secondary(3) 7,233 981 13.5 
			 Total 14,972 1,418 9.5 
			 (1) Maintained Primary and secondary schools .includes pupils aged 5 to 15 years, solely registered or main registration of dually registered pupils, excludes boarders (2) Includes primary and middle deemed primary (3) Includes secondary and middle deemed secondary  Source: Schools census 2006 provisional

Sure Start

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the performance of the Sure Start programme in West Lancashire in reaching new families and children in the relevant local area.

Beverley Hughes: There are three Sure Start children's centres up and running in West Lancashire offering services to 1,037 children under five and their families including 217 childcare places. We do not currently collect data on the number of families and children accessing children's centre services.
	One of the Sure Start Children's centres in the West Lancashire constituency was based on the Tanhouse and Digmoor Sure Start Local Programme (SSLP) and data returns provided by the SSLP show the following information. The programme offers services to 520 children under four and their families. Between July 2002 and June 2003 the SSLP submitted monthly data returns reporting significant contact (that is, a home visit or attendance at a centre-based activity) with 200(1) new children. Between July 2003 and December 2004 the SSLP reported significant contact with an additional 75(2) children.
	 Source:
	(1) Sure Start Local Programme data returns July 2002 to June 2003.
	(2) Source: Sure Start Local Programme data returns July 2003 to December 2004. During this period data was collected quarterly and the figure records only new children seen in the months in which returns were submitted.

Teachers (Bristol)

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the pupil to teacher ratio was for  (a) primary and  (b) secondary schools in Bristol local education authority in (i) 1996-97 and (ii) the most recent school year for which figures are available.

Jim Knight: The following table shows the pupil to teacher ratio in maintained primary and secondary schools in Bristol local authority, January 1997 and January 2005 (the latest year for which information is available at local authority level). Information for England is also given to enable comparison.
	It is anticipated that local authority level pupil to teacher ratios for January 2006 will become available in September.
	
		
			  Pupil:teacher ratios( 1)  in maintained primary and secondary schools in Bristol local authority and England, January 1997 and 2005 
			   Pupil:teacher ratio 
			   Primary  Secondary 
			   Bristol local authority  England  Bristol local authority  England 
			 1997 23.0 23.4 15.6 16.7 
			 2005 22.6 22.5 15.4 16.7 
			 (1) The pupil:teacher ratio is the full-time equivalent number of pupils divided by the full-time equivalent number of qualified teachers. Dually registered pupils are excluded.  Source:  Annual School Census

Vocational Training

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what links exist between his Department and the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Hope: The Department's links with the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP) are at the following levels:
	(i) Occupying the UK seat on the CEDEFOP management board
	(ii) Chairing the steering group of the UK Refernet steering group, which brings together key stakeholders to manage research and exchange of information for CEDEFOP in the UK
	(iii) Co-ordinating the CEDEFOP study visits programme in the UK
	These roles are carried out by DfES officials.

Vocational Training

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what projects are funded by the EU in the UK to develop credit systems for vocational education and training, as advertised in  Official Journal C144 20 June 2006 p.19; and what his policy is on UK participation in this project.

Phil Hope: The  Official Journal reference constitutes a call for proposals, with a deadline of 16 August, so as yet there are no funded projects.
	We are committed to the development of a flexible European credit system to recognise learners' achievements, and to participating actively in this project. To that end, the UK is represented on a Technical Working Group, set up by the European Commission, to explore all relevant issues.

DEFENCE

Afghanistan

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the threat posed by non-Iraqi insurgent veterans of the Iraq conflict entering Helmand Province.

Des Browne: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 3 July 2006,  Official Report, column 698W.

Colombia

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his answer of 10 May 2006,  Official Report, column 298W, on Colombia, if he will list the Colombian military units whose personnel have been provided with UK bespoke counter narcotics training.

Adam Ingram: I refer my hon. Friend to my answer of 10 May 2006,  Official Report, column 298W.
	I am withholding information on the details of this bespoke training because its disclosure would be to the detriment of the safety of individuals, the prevention and detection of crime and international relations.

Defence Analytical Services Agency

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence why the Defence Analytical Services Agency has suspended its statistics on global deployment of service personnel (TSP 06).

Adam Ingram: holding answer 11 July 2006
	TSP 6: Global location of UK regular forces is a DASA publication which shows the distribution of service personnel posted overseas. The publication was suspended at the end of 2002 when conflicts were identified with data from other sources in the department.
	TSP 6 was reinstated on the 12 September 2005. This showed the posted location of UK regular forces at the 1 April 2005. TSP 6 is published quarterly and copies are available in the Library of the House and at; www.dasa.mod.uk.

Defence Medical Services

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what measures he will take to attract and retain  (a) medical officers and  (b) healthcare professionals in the Defence Medical Services.

Tom Watson: Manning levels in the Defence Medical Services (DMS) vary across different specialities and services, In some areas we are very well manned, while in others we are experiencing shortfalls.
	The Ministry of Defence is taking active steps to address shortfalls through a package of pay and non-remunerative measures, including such schemes as "Golden Hellos" targeted at enhancing direct recruitment in areas of shortfall. In terms of overall remuneration, we aim to ensure that DMS pay is comparable with the NHS. The Government are currently considering the recommendations of the independent armed forces pay review body's (AFPRB) 2006 supplementary report on the pay of Service Medical and dental officers, and an announcement on the pay award will be made once this process is complete.
	Nurses and Allied Health Professionals in the DMS arc currently covered by the main armed forces 2006 pay award of three per cent., which was implemented from 1 April 2006. As recommended by the AFPRB, we are now in the process of examining the scope for changing Nursed and Allied Health Professionals pay structures to ensure that military pay remains comparable with the new NHS agenda for change pay structure.
	Pay can only go some way towards addressing manning shortfalls. Non-remunerative measures are equally as important. Examples of non-remunerative initiatives include: the introduction of new pension arrangements which are designed to encourage retention; looking at alternative means of meeting operational commitments (for example, by working closely with allies and partners on operations overseas and by using DMS civilian medical and dental practitioners and agency staff); and development of the Ministry of Defence hospital unit concept to build a stronger military ethos.

Draft Bills

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what draft Bills have been produced by his Department since October 2005; how many were  (a) examined and  (b) are planned to be examined by (i) a Departmental Select Committee and (ii) a Joint Committee; which draft Bills are still to be produced by his Department; when each is expected to be published; how many clauses each has; and if he will make a statement.

Tom Watson: The Ministry of Defence has produced no draft Bills since October 2005.
	Announcements on future legislation and future draft legislation which will be subject to pre-legislative scrutiny will be included in the Queen's Speech.

Helicopters

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how long it would take to train a qualified  (a) civilian and  (b) army helicopter pilot to the level where he or she is competent to fly patrols in hostile environments in light commercial helicopters;
	(2)  how long it takes to train  (a) an RAF,  (b) a Royal Navy and  (c) an Army helicopter pilot to full operational status;
	(3)  whether there is scope for training an Army helicopter pilot to full operational status where he or she is competent to fly patrols in hostile environments in a light commercial helicopter in a shorter period of time than normal in periods of high urgent demand for such pilots.

Tom Watson: Military helicopter pilots undergo different phases of training, which vary in type and duration according to which service and type of aircraft is involved. All military helicopter pilots undergo an initial period of elementary fixed-wing training. This is followed by basic and advanced rotary-wing training at the Defence Helicopter Flying School at RAF Shawbury. The final phase of training involves pilots undertaking operational conversion flying at their single-service front-line or training units.
	The average number of weeks taken to train helicopter pilots of each service from start to until they are able to fly operationally, including initial fixed-wing training, is as follows:
	
		
			  Service  Weeks 
			 Royal Navy 87 
			 Army 71 
			 Roy al Air Force 110 
		
	
	Professionally qualified civilian helicopter pilots would need to develop the relevant low-level flying and tactical skills in order to attain the required competence for operational flying in hostile environments. It is estimated that such training would take approximately 20 weeks.
	Army helicopter pilots are always trained to full operational status. They do not operate light commercial helicopters but are trained to fly military light utility helicopters, such as the Lynx, in hostile environments as part of the mandated training programme described. Military helicopter training is not shortened or hastened to meet operational demands. It is vital that each training phase is completed and that the syllabus is fully achieved in order to produce the high standards that military flying demands.

Hospital Ships

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what frontline hospital ship capacity  (a) is available and  (b) is planned to be available to the fleet.

Adam Ingram: RFA Argus is designated as the frontline Primary Casualty Reception Ship. She is equipped with a hospital complex which includes two operating theatres and has up to 100 beds for casualties. No decisions have been made on the future provision of a deployed maritime medical capability.

HQ Land Forces/Adjutant-General

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the  (a) service and  (b) civilian manning levels in (i) HQ Land Forces and (ii) Adjutant-General's Department are, broken down by function; and what the planned manning levels after merger and relocation to Andover are.

Adam Ingram: There are currently 597 military and 759 civilian posts at HQ Land Command in Wilton and 325 military and 470 civilian posts at the Adjutant-General's headquarters in Upavon, of which approximately 250 are support staff across both sites. It is expected that 677 military and 837 civilian posts will transfer from Wilton and Upavon to the new Land Forces headquarters. In addition, we expect that 103 military and 51 civilian posts currently based at other sites will move to the new headquarters, and that 140 military and 152 civilian posts currently based at Wilton and Upavon will move to other sites. On current plans, 105 military and 240 civilian posts will be removed.
	I will write to the hon. Member with a breakdown of current military and civilian posts at HQ Land Command and the Adjutant-General's headquarters and place a copy of the letter in the Library of the House.

Injured British Servicemen (Treatment)

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many British troops are being treated for injuries sustained in Iraq in  (a) Al Udeid,  (b) Baghdad,  (c) Basra Air Station,  (d) Seeb Tallil,  (e) Al Muthanna,  (f) Al Amarah,  (g) the Princess Mary Hospital, RAF Akrotiri,  (h) the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine at Selly Oak Hospital, Birmingham,  (i) the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre, Headley Court and  (j) each of the regional rehabilitation units in the UK.

Des Browne: Information on the number of people treated at each of the facilities requested is not routinely collected and held centrally, and to do so would involve disproportionate cost. However each facility was requested to make a specific report for the purpose of answering this question. Please see the following table, which shows the number of personnel who received treatment in each facility on the date shown for injuries sustained in Iraq.
	
		
			  Medical facility/location  Date data collected  Number of personnel 
			 Al Udeid 29 June 2006 0 
			 Baghdad 29 June 2006 0 
			 Basra Air Station 29 June 2006 0 
			 Seeb 29 June 2006 0 
			 Tallil 29 June 2006 5 
			 Al Muthanna 29 June 2006 0 
			 Al Amarah 29 June 2006 0 
			 The Princess Mary Hospital, RAF Akrotiri 29 June 2006 0 
			 Royal Centre for Defence Medicine, Selly Oak Hospital, Birmingham 29 June 2006 2 
			 The Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre, Headley Court (inc. London RRU) 4 July 2006 7 
			
			  Regional Rehabilitation Units (RRUs)( 1)   
			 Plymouth (Drake) 30 June 2006 0 
			 Portsmouth (Nelson) 30 June 2006 0 
			 Colchester 3 July 2006 0 
			 Edinburgh 3 July 2006 0 
			 Aldergrove, Northern Ireland 3 July 2006 0 
			 Bulford/Tidworth 3 July 2006 0 
			 Aldershot 3 July 2006 1 
			 Catterick 3 July 2006 2 
			 Cranwell 4 July 2006 0 
			 Halton 4 July 2006 0 
			 Honnington 4 July 2006 0 
			 Shaibah Logistics Base (Role 3) 29 June2006 16 
			 (1) Lichfield is not shown since it is a Multi-injury Assessment Clinic and does not provide treatment.

Iraq

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which units have remained in Iraq longer than their planned deployment because of shortages of air transport in the last 12 months; how long each has remained in Iraq; and if he will make a statement.

Des Browne: No units have remained in Iraq longer than their planned deployment because of shortages of air transport in the last 12 months. Scheduled routine flights may however be delayed for a variety of reasons, including adverse weather, technical difficulties, ground handling problems, de-conflicting aircraft movements and force protection of airfields.

RAF Complaints Process

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what complaint process is available to RAF personnel who experience administrative errors in the payment of wages and salary; and how complaints under the process are dealt with.

Tom Watson: Complaints from RAF personnel concerning payment of salary may be routed via mail, e-mail or fax to the Armed Forces Personnel Administration Agency (AFPAA), as set out in a customer care charter. Alternatively, a complaint may be raised via the Unit Personnel Services Flight who will pass it to AFPAA.
	Each complaint is logged and given a unique reference number enabling it to be tracked, and an acknowledgement sent. The complaint is then passed to the appropriate operations area for investigation and response. Where the individual remains dissatisfied with the response, they are able to invoke the general formal RAF Redress to complaint procedure.

Royal Fleet Auxiliary Ships

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his policy is for  (a) the retention in service and  (b) the upgrading of Royal Fleet Auxiliary Argus.

Adam Ingram: On current plans Royal Fleet Auxiliary Argus will be withdrawn from service in 2020. No decisions have been taken on the upgrading of RFA Argus, though we are considering our options for the future provision of a Joint Casualty Treatment Ship capability.

Royal Fleet Auxiliary Ships

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what  (a) additions and  (b) deletions have been made within the past 12 months to the list of Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships scheduled for refitting and upgrading.

Adam Ingram: During the twelve months from 30 June 2005 to 1 July 2006, there were no additions or deletions to forward plans to the refit of Royal Navy (RN) and Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) ships. Refits are, however, part of a wider upkeep programme, from which there have been seventeen deletions, but no additions. These deletions, which remove projects between 2006 and 2020, are listed in the following table:
	
		
			   Ship  Reason for the deletion 
			 2008 HMS Illustrious Replaced with alternative maintenance 
			 2010 HMS Illustrious Replaced with alternative maintenance 
			 2006 RFA Sir Tristram Reviewed and no longer required 
			 2012 HMS Ark Royal Reviewed and no longer required 
			 2015 HMS Ocean Reviewed and no longer required 
			 2007 HMS Endurance Revised maintenance cycle 
			 2008 HMS Roebuck Revised maintenance cycle 
			 2011 HMS Scott Revised maintenance cycle 
			 2012 HMS Endurance Revised maintenance cycle 
			 2014 HMS Endurance Revised maintenance cycle 
			 2014 HMS Roebuck Revised maintenance cycle 
			 2017 HMS Quorn Revised maintenance cycle 
			 2017 HMS Scott Revised maintenance cycle 
			 2018 HMS Chiddingfold Revised maintenance cycle 
			 2019 HMS Middleton Revised maintenance cycle 
			 2020 HMS Hurworth Revised maintenance cycle 
			 2020 HMS Scott Revised maintenance cycle 
		
	
	RN and RFA ships are not specifically scheduled for upgrades, since equipment is upgraded when the opportunity arises, usually as part of an upkeep period. Opportunities to undertake upgrades are kept under regular review and can change for operational reasons.

Tour Intervals

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on progress in his Department's measurement of tour intervals of personnel in the  (a) Royal Navy and  (b) Royal Air Force.

Adam Ingram: Harmony guidelines are measured in two ways: unit harmony, which is expressed in tour intervals, and individual harmony through separated service, which is the length of time individuals spend away from their home base. The former is relatively easy to measure but can mask the actual effect of deployments on individuals. Work is therefore in progress to develop a common and effective system of separated service measurement. Currently, each service has its own procedures for measuring harmony. These take account of the different service regimes for manning and career management, training requirements and patterns of deployment. The different systems do not allow straightforward comparisons of the impact of separation on people to be made between services.
	A common definition of separated service has now been developed and the service rules for recording have been harmonised. These harmonised rules take effect, for each service in turn, with the roll out of the Joint Personnel Administration system. This is now in operation for the Royal Air Force and, when complete for the Royal Navy (anticipated in November 2006) and Army (anticipated in March 2007), will allow accurate measurement of separated service across the armed forces.

Welfare Services

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the effect on morale of servicewomen of using Nell McAndrew to advertise the Confidential Support Line.

Tom Watson: One of Nell McAndrew's chosen charities is the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association, which operates the Confidential Support Line. We are very grateful for her support for Service personnel and its positive effect on morale.

HEALTH

Food (Nutritional Content)

James McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will assess the merits of banning the sale of food containing hydrogenated fats.

Caroline Flint: The Government have no plans to ban the sale of foods containing hydrogenated fats. There have been concerns expressed about hydrogenated fats due to their high level of trans fatty acids (TFA). The average consumption of TFA is below the maximum level recommended by the Committee on Medical Aspects of Food Policy in 1994.

Food (Nutritional Content)

James McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will introduce regulations requiring fast food outlets to publish nutritional information about their products in an easily accessible and public form.

Caroline Flint: There are no plans to introduce regulations of this sort. The Food Standards Agency encourages catering establishments, including fast food outlets, to voluntarily provide information about the nutritional content of the food they serve to help consumers who wish to use such information to inform their choices.

Food (Nutritional Content)

James McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will assess the merits of making the traffic light system for nutritional information on food packaging compulsory for all forms of packaged food.

Caroline Flint: The Government currently have no plans to make front of pack signpost nutritional labelling compulsory. Responsibility for food labelling lies with the European Union and the rules are harmonised across Europe. The European Commission wishes to update the existing nutrition labelling legislation and recognises the need for simpler nutritional information which will help the consumer to make healthier choices. Formal proposals are expected from the Commission next year.

Food (Nutritional Content)

James McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the voluntary traffic light system for nutritional information on food packaging.

Caroline Flint: Comprehensive consumer research with more than 2,500 participants conducted by the Foods Standards Agency (FSA) has shown that the Government-endorsed approach recommended by the FSA helps consumers across all population groups make healthier choices. The vast majority of consumers (96 per cent.) thought a simplified front of pack nutritional signposting scheme would help them make healthier choices.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Energy Efficiency

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the Government's strategy is for encouraging energy efficiency measures for those living in fuel poverty.

Ian Pearson: I have been asked to reply.
	A range of schemes and policies are in place to help tackle fuel poverty. It was announced in the 2005 pre-Budget report that an additional £300 million would be made available to tackle fuel poverty across the UK over the 2005-08 period.
	The main tool for eradicating fuel poverty in England is the Warm Front scheme which provides a range of energy efficiency measures and advice to vulnerable households. Warm Front has already assisted more than one million vulnerable households. Similar schemes exist in each of the devolved administrations.
	There are a range of other schemes and policies in place to improve the energy efficiency of domestic properties, such as the Energy Efficiency Commitment and the Decent Homes Standard. These have provision to target assistance at the most vulnerable low-income families and pensioner households.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Departmental Costs

Daniel Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what costs arising from setting up her Department have been allocated to the corporate communications budgets.

Angela Smith: To date the total costs that have been allocated to the corporate communications budget come to £12,000. This has come from existing budgets.

Departmental Discussions

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions she has had with  (a) the Treasury and  (b) the Cabinet Office regarding the pre-comprehensive spending review report; and if she will make a statement.

Angela Smith: The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government has had and will continue to have wide ranging and regular discussions with the chief secretary about preparations for the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review, as a matter of key importance to the Department for Communities and Local Government's medium and long term planning.

FIFA World Cup

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which matches  (a) she and  (b) other Ministers in her Department attended at the FIFA World Cup 2006 in Germany in their ministerial capacity; at what cost to public funds; and with what contributions from third party organisations.

Angela Smith: No Minister from this Department has attended any of the FIFA World Cup 2006 matches in Germany, but we did watch them on T.V.

Fire Service

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will make a statement on the planned regionalisation of fire service control rooms.

Angela Smith: Independent reviews have consistently shown that creating an integrated system of nine regional control centres will provide a more resilient, effective and efficient service. The current 46 fire control centres were not designed to deal in a co-ordinated way with major, regional or national incidents. The new system will offer more reliable fallback in times of peak demand or external threats such as flooding, and more effective response to all incidents, particularly those of substantial scale or complexity.

Private Finance Initiative Projects

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government by what total amount Private Finance Initiative projects for which her Department is responsible which went over budget did so in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Angela Smith: Responsibility for the Department for Communities and Local Government's Private Finance Initiative (PFI) projects rest with individual local authorities taking forward PFI projects. To date the Department has not been informed of any PFI projects going over budget.
	The risk of PFI projects going over budget is normally transferred to the private sector. If a cost overrun affects the delivery of the service being provided, the public sector has the right to make performance deductions from the unitary charge. Furthermore, unitary charge payments do not commence until the service is operational and meets agreed standards.

Swindon Borough Council

Michael Wills: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government for what purposes funding was allocated to Swindon borough council under the category of building capacity in  (a) 2004-05 and  (b) 2005-06.

Angela Smith: The information requested is set out in the following table.
	
		
			  2004-05  2005-06 
			  Headline project and date approved  Grant approved (£)  Headline project and date approved  Grant approved (£) 
			 Peer support grant (April 2004) 10,400 Leadership support grant (September 2005) 3,95.0 
			 Leadership support grant (July 2004) 21,200 Public protection grant (September 2005) 11,000 
			 Peer support grant (September 2004) 38,400 Programme and Project Management (August 2005) 271,000 
			 Public protection grant (January 2005) 15,000 Workforce Development and Human Resources (August 2005) 130,000 
			   Member Development (August 2005) 15,000 
			   Communications and Information Technology Communications (August 2005) 182,000 
			   Strategy and Efficiency Review (August 2005) 146,000 
			   Local Area Agreements (August2005) 20,000 
			   Corporate Management recruitment (August 2005) 136,000 
			   Revenues and Benefits service (August 2005) 100,000 
			 Total 85,000 Total 1,014,950 
		
	
	In addition, Swindon received approval for a grant of £1,000,000 in March 2005 to establish a partnership between Kent county council and Swindon borough council in order to improve the social services provided to the people of Swindon. The Department of Health met £180,000 of the £1,000,000.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Clissold Road Swimming Pool

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when the Clissold Road swimming pool will re-open.

Richard Caborn: I understand that Clissold Leisure Centre is now expected to re-open in July 2007. Sport England will continue to monitor the time scales and milestones towards the re-opening.

Football

Gwyneth Dunwoody: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many football coaches have been funded from public funds in Crewe and Nantwich constituency in the last two years for  (a) ethnic minorities,  (b) women and girls and  (c) children with learning difficulties; where these sessions were held; how many sessions were held for each group; how many primary and after school sessions have been arranged; where; by whom; and at what cost.

Richard Caborn: Through its Whole Sport Plan, the FA provides coaching in the Crewe and Nantwich area. Detailed information in the requested format is not available. However, I can confirm that 15 Community Sports Coaches are employed within the Cheshire and Warrington Sports Partnership to provide coaching sessions, including in primary schools and after school. Three of these coaches spend a proportion of their coaching time in Crewe and Nantwich. Two of the Community Sports Coaches coach football, although not in Crewe and Nantwich. However, the local authority in Crewe and Nantwich has recruited a part-time football Community Sports Coach who will focus on females, ethnic minorities and people with disabilities.
	According to Sport England figures, between April 2005 and March 2006, there were 108,209 attendances at coaching sessions provided by Community Sports Coaches in the Cheshire and Warrington Sports Partnership area. Of these, 36,428 were female, 2,632 had a disability and 2,306 were from black, Asian or other minority ethnic group.

London Olympics

Piara S Khabra: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps the Government is taking to extend the benefits of the 2012 London Olympics to  (a) Ealing, Southall and  (b) West London.

Richard Caborn: The Government are determined that the whole of London and the UK will benefit from the games in 2012.
	The Greater London Authority, which is the body responsible for co-ordinating the delivery of the legacy and benefits of the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympics Games for London, is working closely with the London Development Agency and local and sub-regional partnerships to ensure that people and businesses all over London have the information and skills they need to take advantage of the full range of opportunities arising from hosting the games.
	Specifically, the London borough of Ealing has been working at a local level through the West London Alliance Olympic Officers Group, to develop an action plan to maximise benefits to Ealing and West London as a whole.

London Olympics

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much the 2012 London Olympic park is expected to cost.

Richard Caborn: The Olympic Delivery Authority is currently procuring the delivery partner that will help the ODA to deliver the Olympic and legacy construction. One element of the delivery partner's role will be to examine the programme for the Olympic Park and costs associated with it. We expect this assessment to be completed within six to nine months of the appointment.

Lottery Funding (School Facilities)

Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much national lottery funding has been made available for local sports facilities over the past five years.

Richard Caborn: Since the start of 2001, 17,689 lottery awards worth a total value of £1.3 billion have been made by the five sports lottery distributors.
	Local sports facilities are not identified as a category on the Department's lottery grants database. The information could therefore be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	Information on all lottery awards is available from the database, searchable at www.lottery.culture.gov.uk, which uses information supplied by the lottery distributors.

Royal Parks Agency

Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much was given in grants by her Department to the Royal Parks Agency in each of the past five financial years.

David Lammy: The table shows the funding received by the Royal Parks from the Department for the periods shown.
	
		
			   Amount of public funding given by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (£) 
			  Financial year  Resource  Capital 
			 2002-03 25.6 million 1.4 million 
			 2003-04 25.4 million 5.1 million 
			 2004-05 26.7 million 2.7 million 
			 2005-06 26.2 million (1)900,000 
			 2006-07 26.2 million (1)900,000 
			 (1) Budgeted figures rather than actual outturn.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Comprehensive Spending Review

Vincent Cable: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what discussions the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs has had with  (a) the Treasury and  (b) the Cabinet Office regarding the pre-comprehensive spending review report; and if she will make a statement.

Bridget Prentice: The Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs had a formal discussion (bi-lateral) on the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) with the Chief Secretary HM Treasury in June 2006. All other discussions between the Department of Constitutional Affairs and (a) HM Treasury and  (b) Cabinet Office on the CSR have been at official level.
	No discussions regarding the CSR have been had by the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs with the Cabinet Office.

Electoral Registration

Keith Vaz: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what steps she plans to take to increase voter registration in inner city areas.

Bridget Prentice: The Government have embarked on a number of initiatives to increase voter registration and promote participation in democracy.
	The 1824 collective campaign, promoted awareness of voter registration amongst London's urban youth in the run up to local London election in May this year.
	We are funding seven local authorities, working with community organisations and education institutions to explore new methods of encouraging people to register to vote and participate in elections.
	The Electoral Administration Bill makes a number of changes to improve the registration process. These include a new duty setting out the minimum steps that the ERO will be expected to take to ensure a comprehensive register and enable people to register after an election has been called. The Bill also provides a new power for returning officers to promote participation at elections, and the Government have made available £2.5 million to support the new power.

Electoral Registration

Clive Betts: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what powers will be available to local electoral registration officers under the Electoral Registration Bill to share data in drawing up election registers; if she will provide a list of the sources of data which will be able to be used under powers contained within the Bill; and if she will make a statement.

Bridget Prentice: Electoral registration officers are currently able to inspect and take copies of any records kept by their own council, and to inspect and take copies of records kept by any registrar of births and deaths.
	The Electoral Administration Bill does not change this. However, it does require electoral registration officers, when compiling the electoral register, to make full use of their powers to inspect those records which they are permitted to inspect.
	We are also looking at whether there are records which are not covered by existing powers, but which could be covered by secondary legislation, if it were appropriate to do so.

Electoral Registration

Clive Betts: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what powers are available to local electoral registration officers to share data in drawing-up election registers; if she will provide a list of sources of data which can be used; and if she will make a statement.

Bridget Prentice: Electoral registration officers are currently able to inspect and take copies of any records kept by their own council, and to inspect and take copies of records kept by any registrar of births and deaths.

Family Visitor Appeals

Brian Binley: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many family visitor appeals were lodged in 2005-06; and how many are awaiting a decision.

Bridget Prentice: In the period from 1 April 2005 to 31 March 2006, a total of 59,047 family visitor appeals were received by the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal. Of those appeals, 18,063 remain to be decided and are currently either listed for a hearing before, or awaiting a decision from, an Immigration Judge.

Incapacity Benefit

Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs pursuant to the answer to Question 80303, what meetings she has held with Ministers in the Department for Work and Pensions to discuss their response to the president of the tribunal's reports on their standards in making incapacity benefit decisions; and if she will make a statement on  (a) resulting initiatives and  (b) the expected levels of tribunal workload over the next two years.

Bridget Prentice: No meetings have been held with Ministers in the Department for Work and Pensions on this subject since responsibility for appeal tribunals transferred to this Department on 1 April 2006. The president of appeal tribunals' sixth report on the standard of decisions made on behalf of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in cases which come before appeal tribunals was published on 6 July 2006,  Official Report, Column 52WS.
	A Joint Steering Committee has been established between the Tribunals Service and Jobcentre Plus, the agency which administers Incapacity Benefit, to provide feedback on cases considered by appeal tribunals and to look for ways to avoid customers having to go through the appeals process.

Legal Profession (Consumer Demands)

Keith Vaz: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs 
	(1)  what plans she has to ensure the legal profession is more responsive to consumer demands;
	(2)  what progress she has made in increasing consumer choice in legal services.

Bridget Prentice: The draft Legal Services Bill, which was published on 24 May 2006, builds on recommendations made by Sir David Clementi following his independent review of the regulatory framework for legal services in England and Wales which was published in December 2004. Both Sir David and the Government have been keen to ensure wide engagement with stakeholders in developing these proposals.
	The proposals in the draft Bill respond to consumer demands. They provide for a new and independent oversight regulator, the Legal Services Board, and a single and independent Office for Legal Complaints. They also provide, through the licensing of alternative business structures, for legal services to be delivered in new ways. The Government are committed to putting the consumer at the heart of these reforms, and there is also a statutory duty on the Legal Services Board to establish a consumer panel to advise it.
	Taken together, these proposals will provide for greater independence in regulation and complaints handling, and increased competition through a more flexible approach to the delivery of legal services. Subject to robust safeguards, lawyers and non-lawyers will be able to work together on an equal footing to deliver legal and other services. External investment will also be possible. These arrangements will provide practitioners with flexibility to respond to market demands by providing consumers with the services they want, when they want them, and in the packages they want them.
	The draft Bill is currently undergoing pre-legislative scrutiny by a Joint Committee. The Joint Committee is due to report by 25 July. After considering the Committee's report, the Government intend to introduce legislation as soon as Parliamentary time allows.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Access to Work Scheme

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the implications for  (a) central Government Departments' budgets and  (b) disabled people of the ending of Access to Work funding in October.

Anne McGuire: The Secretary of State is not in a position to assess the implications for other Government Departments' budgets. However, the large majority of these workplace adjustments are inexpensive.
	Our intention is that disabled staff should continue to receive the support they need as now, including obtaining advice from specialist staff in Jobcentre Plus. However, instead of their support being paid for by the Access to Work programme, it will be funded out of departmental running costs. Officials will be working with those in other Government Departments to help them implement this requirement.

Access to Work Scheme

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent changes to the Access to Work Scheme have applied to employees of  (a) central Government departments and agencies,  (b) large private sector employers and  (c) other employers; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: Access to Work funding will be removed from employees working in central government departments from October 2006. Our intention is that disabled staff should continue to receive the support they need as now, including obtaining advice from specialist staff in Jobcentre Plus. However, instead of their support being paid for by the Access to Work programme, it will be funded out of departmental running costs. Officials from the Office of Disability Issues will be working with those in other Government Departments to help them implement this requirement.
	No changes have been made to Access to Work which affect people working for large private sector employers or other employers.

Carer's Allowance

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the annual cost of removing the 21-hour study rule for carer's allowance.

Anne McGuire: We estimate that the annual cost of removing the 21-hour full-time education rule for carer's allowance would amount to approximately £30 million for the first full year following its removal. This total is made up of £16 million for carer's allowance and £14 million in respect of income-related benefits.

Child Support Agency

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what criteria were used to determine performance-related bonus payments for senior civil servants at the Child Support Agency in each of the last four years.

Anne McGuire: For each of the last four years decisions have been made by relatively assessing individuals in relation to others in the same senior civil service pay band. When determining performance-related bonus payments the following criteria were used:
	 2004-05 and 2005-06
	Performance against agreed priority business objectives or targets;
	Total delivery record over the year;
	Relative stretch;
	Response to unforeseen events which affected the performance.
	 2003-04 and 2004-05
	How successful staff were in meeting their objectives;
	How difficult/challenging the objectives were, given available resources, foreseen and unforeseen factors;
	How the success had been achieved taking account of the Departmental Aims and Values.

Disability Living Allowance

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether he plans to review the requirement for those with lifelong disabilities to make periodic reapplications for disability living allowance.

Anne McGuire: The administration of disability living allowance is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Disability and Carers Service, Mr. Terry Moran. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Terry Moran:
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to review the requirement for those with lifelong disabilities to make periodic reapplications for disability living allowance.
	The Minister for Disabled People, Anne McGuire MP, promised you a substantive reply from the Chief Executive of the Disability and Carers Service.
	There is no specific requirement for those with lifelong disabilities to make periodic reapplications for disability living allowance (DLA). As you may be aware, entitlement to DLA does not depend on the diagnosis of a condition but on how that condition affects a person on a daily basis. It is entirely possible for a person with permanent disability not to satisfy the conditions for an award of DLA. There is a wide variation in the amount of help required by people with similar disabilities and for this reason entitlement to DLA is based on needs rather than diagnosis.
	Where a Decision Maker concludes that a customer is entitled to DLA, and in their judgment there is unlikely to be any change in the way the customer's disabling condition affects their mobility or ability to self-care, an indefinite award would be the expected outcome. Such customers would not be required to renew their claims at intervals.
	However, even where entitlement to benefit is awarded indefinitely, it can be affected by a change in the disabled person's circumstances. There is a statutory obligation for the customer to report relevant changes of circumstances that may affect entitlement.
	Awards for a limited period are made where the Decision Maker judges that there might be some material change, affecting either the entitlement or the rate of benefit as a person adapts to their disability or their condition improves or worsens over a period of time. The customer would be invited to make a renewal claim at the appropriate time.
	As part of the Government's plans to modernise the Welfare State we introduced the "periodic inquiry" procedures to ensure that our customers are receiving the correct level of benefit. These involve the random selection of cases where checks are made upon a customer's continuing entitlement to benefit. Accurate, up to date information about a customer's needs is collected to make sure that the benefit entitlement is correct. It is applied fairly giving people the opportunity to have their award increased as well as decreased in line with entitlement.
	I hope this is helpful.

Incapacity Benefit

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of incapacity benefit claims in West Lancashire which have been turned down on the basis of insufficient national insurance contributions (NIC) as a result of the time taken in updating NIC records.

Anne McGuire: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave the hon. Member for Hereford (Mr. Keetch) on 28 February 2006,  Official Report, column 688W.

London Olympics

Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which officials in his Department  (a) are responsible for Olympics-related activity and  (b) sit on the Inter-Departmental Steering Group for the Olympics.

Anne McGuire: Bill Wells, the divisional manager in the economy and labour market division represents the Department for Work and Pensions on the Inter-Departmental Steering Group for the Olympics. He, together with Chris Hayes, Jobcentre Plus field director for London, is responsible for Olympics-related activity within DWP and Jobcentre Plus.
	The Department for Culture, Media and Sport are leading for the Government on this work.

Pensioners Abroad

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what  (a) bilateral and  (b) multilateral arrangements the United Kingdom has with the Czech Republic to ensure the provision of (i) state and (ii) private pensions to UK pensioners resident in that country;
	(2)  what  (a) bilateral and  (b) multilateral arrangements the United Kingdom has with Denmark to ensure the provision of benefits to support UK pensioners resident in that country;
	(3)  what  (a) bilateral and  (b) multilateral arrangements the United Kingdom has with Denmark to ensure the provision of (i) state and (ii) private pensions to UK pensioners resident in that country;
	(4)  what  (a) bilateral and  (b) multilateral arrangements the United Kingdom has with the Czech Republic to ensure the provision of benefits to support UK pensioners resident in that country;
	(5)  what  (a) bilateral and  (b) multilateral arrangements the United Kingdom has with Austria to ensure the provision of (i) state and (ii) private pensions to UK pensioners resident in that country;
	(6)  what  (a) bilateral and  (b) multilateral arrangements the United Kingdom has with Austria to ensure the provision of benefits to support UK pensioners resident in that country;
	(7)  what  (a) bilateral and  (b) multilateral arrangements the United Kingdom has with Belgium to ensure the provision of benefits to support UK pensioners resident in that country;
	(8)  what  (a) bilateral and  (b) multilateral arrangements the United Kingdom has with Belgium to ensure the provision of (i) state and (ii) private pensions to UK pensioners resident in that country;
	(9)  what  (a) bilateral and  (b) multilateral arrangements the United Kingdom has with Cyprus to ensure the provision of benefits to support UK pensioners resident in that country;
	(10)  what  (a) bilateral and  (b) multilateral arrangements the United Kingdom has with Cyprus to ensure the provision of (i) state and (ii) private pensions to UK pensioners resident in that country;
	(11)  what  (a) bilateral and  (b) multilateral arrangements the United Kingdom has with (i) Finland, (ii) Estonia, (iii) France, (iv) Germany, (v) Greece, (vi) Hungary, (vii) Ireland, (viii) Italy, (ix) Latvia, (x) Lithuania, (xi) Luxembourg, (xii) Malta, (xiii) Netherlands, (xiv) Poland, (xv) Portugal, (xvi) Slovakia, (xvii) Slovenia, (xviii) Spain and (xix) Sweden to ensure the provision of (A) (1) state and (2) private pensions and (B) benefits to UK pensioners resident in that country.

James Plaskitt: The social security schemes of all the member states of the European Union are co-ordinated by EC Regulation 1408/71. It provides for member states to pay their state pensions to pensioners resident in other member states at the same rate as if they were living in the paying state. The UK also makes winter fuel payments to people aged 60 or over living in other member states provided they qualified for a payment before leaving the UK.
	The UK maintains bilateral social security agreements with many EU member states, including Denmark, Austria, Belgium and Cyprus. They were entered into before the application of Regulation 1408/71 and continue to be of relevance to the Crown Dependencies, where they also apply, as their social security schemes are outside the scope of co-ordination under the EC Regulation.
	The EC legislation relating to private pensions is council directive 98/49/EC on safeguarding the supplementary pension rights of employed and self-employed persons moving within the community. The directive ensures that the occupational pension rights of scheme members who move from one EU member state to another are protected. The provisions of the directive have been implemented in the UK through an amendment to the Pensions Act 1995. Section 66A of the Act ensures that occupational pension schemes cannot have different rules for members who have accrued pension rights in the UK but who now reside overseas.

Pre-CSR Report

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions he has had with the  (a) Treasury and  (b) Cabinet Office regarding the pre-comprehensive spending review report; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: The Secretary of State has had and will continue to have wide-ranging and regular discussions with the chief secretary about the 2007 comprehensive spending review, as a matter of key importance to the Department for Work and Pensions medium and long-term planning.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Carriage of Dangerous Goods Regulations

Oliver Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been prosecuted under the Carriage of Dangerous Goods and Use of Transportable Pressure Equipment Regulations in the last five years.

Anne McGuire: I have been asked to reply.
	The Carriage of Dangerous Goods and Use of Transportable Pressure Equipment Regulations 2004 is enforced by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the police on behalf of the Department for Transport which has the policy lead.
	HSE has taken seven prosecutions under the Carriage of Dangerous Goods and Use of Transportable Pressure Equipment Regulations 2004 and predecessor legislation.
	One further prosecution has been taken under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. This prosecution related to the 2004 Regulations.
	One of these prosecutions was taken against an individual person.
	One of these prosecutions was taken against a partnership.
	Information on police prosecutions is unavailable; the Court Proceedings database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform holds information on all prosecutions including police prosecutions but does not separately identify the offences requested.

Debt Collectors

Julie Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether  (a) his Department and  (b) its (i) executive agencies and (ii) non-departmental public bodies use the services of private debt collectors.

Vernon Coaker: The Security Industry Authority, a non-departmental public body of the Home Office, is the only part of the Home Department that uses private debt collectors. They are employed for the recovery of licence debts and court costs only

Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when sections  (a) one and  (b) four of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004 will be implemented.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Domestic Violence Crime and Victims Act 2004 is the biggest overhaul of domestic violence legislation for 35 years. It is a key part of the Government's aim of putting victims at the heart of the criminal justice system. The Act has been rolling out in stages since January 2005. The remaining provisions will be implemented as appropriate.

Foreign Prisoners

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research his Department has conducted on the causes of the increase in the number of foreign nationals in prisons in England and Wales over the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

John Reid: The Home Office regularly monitors the size and make-up of the foreign national prisoner population and trends within it. Information on this is published in Offender Management Caseload Statistics 2004, a copy of which is available in the House of Commons Library.

Home Detention Curfews

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of prisoners sentenced for crimes involving violence have been granted home detention curfews in the last 12 months.

Gerry Sutcliffe: holding answer 30 January 2006
	Prisoners who are subject to the registration requirements of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and those serving extended sentences for serious violent or sexual offences are statutorily ineligible for HDC. Furthermore, prisoners with any history of sexual offending and those serving sentences for certain serious offences such as manslaughter, child cruelty, possession of an offensive weapon, possession of a firearm with intent, certain explosives offences and racially aggravated offences are presumed unsuitable for release unless there are exceptional circumstances. All eligible prisoners must pass a careful risk assessment before release on HDC is possible. No prisoner who is considered to present a significant risk to public safety or of re-offending during the curfew period is released on HDC. The information requested, as recorded on the prison IT system, is provided in the following table.
	
		
			  Home detention curfew releases in 2005 
			   Violent offences( 2) 
			 Prisoners with sentences of 3 months to less than 4 years with an HDC eligibility date in the period 12,828 
			 Number released on HDC during 2005(1) 4,105 
			 Percentage who received HDC during 2005 32 
			 (1) These figures are based are based on information recorded on the central prison IT system at 22 May 2006. Further updates and amendments may be made to records on this system in future resulting in revised figures. (2) Offence recorded on prison IT system. Covers violence against the person and robbery. Investigations suggest that around 5 per cent. of offence types recorded on this system do not relate to the offence they were released on HDC for but relate to offences committed after release from prison and before the licence expiry date for their sentence.

Human Trafficking

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set up a  (a) specialised immigration status for trafficking victims and  (b) shelter capacity for trafficking victims; and if he will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: The Secretary of State already has the discretion to grant periods of leave to trafficking victims, or to defer removal while the facts of the case are established. There are currently no plans to create a specialised immigration status for trafficking victims.

Immigration and Nationality Directorate

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many employees of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate have been granted British citizenship in  (a) the last 12 months,  (b) the last five years and  (c) the last 10 years; and what the country of origin of each such employee is.

John Reid: The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Immigration and Nationality Directorate

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how long Mr. Dawute has been employed by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate; how long Mr. Dawute has been employed at Lunar House in Croydon; and whether Mr. Dawute continues to carry out his duties.

John Reid: James Dawute was employed by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate from 12 August 2002 to 1 June 2006. He was employed at Lunar House in Croydon from 22 December 2003 to June 2006. Mr. Dawute was dismissed on 1 June 2006.

National Offender Management Service

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department who the head of Prisoner Escort and Custody Services at the National Offender Management Service is; how many people have held the position  (a) permanently and  (b) temporarily in the last four years; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The current head of the Prisoner Escort and Custody Service is a senior Prison Service manager on loan to the National Offender Management Service. Two other people have held this post in the last four years. There was a short temporary appointment between May and October 2002, and a permanent appointment from then until August 2005.

Operation Safeguard

Rudi Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what date prisoners were last held in police cells under Operation Safeguard; in which criminal justice areas they were held; and what the status of the prisoners was.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Prisoners were last held under Operation Safeguard on 20 December 2002. Details of prisoners held under operation Safeguard were only recorded by police constabulary area. The following forces held prisoners: Cheshire, Cleveland, Cumbria, Derbyshire, Dorset, Durham, Dyfed Powys .Essex, Greater Manchester, Hertfordshire, Humberside, Kent, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Metropolitan, North Yorkshire, Northumbria, Nottinghamshire, Staffordshire, Surrey, Sussex, West Mercia, West Midlands, West Yorkshire and Wiltshire.
	Information on the status of the prisoners held is not available.

Parliamentary Questions

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to question  (a) 76539 and  (b) 76540, on oxycodone hydrochloride, tabled by the hon. Member for Castle Point for answer on 12 June.

Vernon Coaker: The two questions 76539 and 76540 on oxycodone hydrochloride were answered on 6 July 2006,  Official Report, column 1330W.

Prison Service

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of staff employed in the London area office of HM Prison Service receive the RHS allowance; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: It is assumed the hon. Member is referring to Required Hours Addition (RHA). Of the 29 staff employed in the London area office, four are currently in receipt of RHA.

Prison Service

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what funding charities have received from the Prison Service in each of the last 10 years; and what proportion of the total prison service budget this represented in each year.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Prison Service works with many charities that provide a service to the Prison Service for which they are remunerated. However, the accounting system does not identify charitable organisations and the total paid to these organisations could be provided only at a disproportionate cost to the benefit. The following table shows the donations made by the Prison Service in the last five years.
	
		
			  Donations to charities by the Prison Service 2001-06 
			   Donation  Percentage of spend (less than) 
			 2005-06 115,197 0.1 
			 2004-05 101,518 0.1 
			 2003-04 150,027 0.1 
			 2002-03 45,133 0.1 
			 2001-02 21,066 0.1 
			  Note: As a result of changes to the accounting systems to obtain information for earlier years could be done only at a disproportionate cost.

Prisons

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many deaths in prison were deemed to have  (a) been caused by and  (b) involved (i) other inmates and (ii) prison officers in each prison, in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The number of apparent homicides in prisons in England and Wales, 2001-2005, and where they occurred, is shown in the following table. The perpetrator in each case was another prisoner.
	
		
			   Number of apparent homicides 
			  Prison  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005 
			 Full Sutton — — — — 1 
			 Leeds — — — 1 — 
			 Leicester — — — 1 — 
			 Manchester — — 1 — — 
			 Risley — — — — 1 
			 Rye Hill — — — — 1

Prisons

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many times illegal drugs have been found in each of the prisons in Wales in each of the past five years, broken down by  (a) type of drug and  (b) quantity of drugs.

Gerry Sutcliffe: holding answer 5 June 2006
	The table details drug finds in prisons in Wales during the last five years. Centrally available data does not record the quantity of drugs found.
	
		
			  Illegal drugs found in prisons in Wales 2000-05 
			  Number 
			  Prison   2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  Total 
			 Cardiff Heroin 5 8 4 2 3 9 31 
			  Cocaine 0 1 0 1 0 1 3 
			  LSD 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 
			  Amphetamines 1 3 1 0 0 1 6 
			  Barbiturates 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 
			  Cannabis 45 26 17 11 11 14 124 
			  Cannabis plant 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 
			  Tranquillisers 2 1 1 0 0 0 4 
			  Other 5 13 3 0 1 4 26 
			   59 53 27 15 15 29 198 
			  
			 Pare Heroin 1 5 1 5 12 14 38 
			  Cocaine 0 1 0 2 0 1 4 
			  LSD 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 
			  Amphetamines 0 6 0 1 0 1 8 
			  Cannabis 25 25 23 44 38 44 199 
			  Cannabis plant 1 0 0 0 1 1 3 
			  Crack 0 0 0 1 0 2 3 
			  Other 0 3 5 16 16 20 60 
			   27 41 29 69 67 83 316 
			  
			 Swansea Heroin 1 4 2 0 0 0 7 
			  Cocaine 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 
			  Amphetamines 0 1 0 0 0 1 2 
			  Cannabis 14 10 0 2 3 2 31 
			  Crack 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 
			  Other 2 3 0 0 1 1 7 
			   18 19 2 2 5 4 50 
			  
			 Usk/Prescoed Crack — 0 — 1 — — 1 
			  Other — 1 — 0 — — 1 
			   — 1 — 1 — — 2

Prisons

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what obligation is placed on the Prison Service to establish the nationality of prisoners during the reception process under Prison Service Order 0500.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Prison Service Order 0500 requires prison reception staff to interview all incoming prisoners and note their stated nationality in the prisoner's core record. Prisons will report the details of all prisoners who state that they are foreign nationals or dual nationals, all those whose nationality is initially unclear and all those who refuse to give their nationality to the immigration service who will then establish their immigration status. As the Home Secretary outlined in his ministerial statement of 23 May, officials are now looking at the possibility of placing a legal obligation on those suspected, charged or convicted to declare their nationality.

Prisons

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many women were imprisoned in each year since 1997; how many of them served their sentences in open prisons; how many women in prison are serving sentences in excess of three years; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Information on the numbers of females received into prison establishments between 1997 and 2004 is given in table 7.1 of Offender Management Caseload Statistics 2004. Similar information on the number of females in prison as at June each year is given in table 8.1. Information on the numbers of females in open prison, including those in open young offender prison establishments and semi-open prisons, is given in the first part of the following table. Information on female prisoners whose sentence is more than three years is provided in the second part of the following table.
	
		
			  Female prisoners in open prisons and young offender institutions since 1997:  As at June 30 
			   Total 
			 1997 507 
			 1998 498 
			 1999 418 
			 2000 345 
			 2001 449 
			 2002 506 
			 2003 524 
			 2004 518 
			 2005 457 
		
	
	
		
			  Female population in prison establishments under an immediate custodial sentence of more than three years: As at June 30 
			   Population 
			 1997 817 
			 1998 959 
			 1999 1,075 
			 2000 1,134 
			 2001 1,321 
			 2002 1,581 
			 2003 1,719 
			 2004 1,720

Prisons

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance his Department has issued on minimum and maximum temperatures for cells in  (a) prisons,  (b) young offender institutions and  (c) juvenile custody in England and Wales for each month of the year.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The National Offender Management Services (NOMS) takes seriously its responsibility to treat prisoners decently. Guidance has been issued to all custodial establishments, including those in the juvenile estate that defines the standard of prisoner accommodation including the capability of the heating system and ventilation requirements in Prison Service order "Certified Prisoner Accommodation" and its supporting Prison Service standard "Accommodation". The Youth Justice Board (YJB) contracts with the Secure Training Centre (STC) providers stipulate specific requirements for ranges of temperatures which must be met. These ranges vary depending on the type and usage of the accommodation. Within the Secure Children's Homes contracts the YJB requires that the provider will ensure that all parts of the premises are adequately ventilated, heated and lit in keeping with the type of usage to which they are put.

Probation Service

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) legal advisers and  (b) social services advisers have been employed or seconded to work in the Probation Service in each of the last eight years.

John Reid: The current data collection process for workforce information does not provide data in sufficient detail to provide the information requested. Senior Circuit Judges are appointed by the Department of Constitutional Affairs to sit on Local Probation Boards and advise them on legal matters, as the appointments are made by DCA the National Probation Directorate does not keep records of how many Judges have taken post over the last eight years.

Probation Service

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the total number of  (a) operational and  (b) non-operational officers employed in the Probation Service was in each of the last eight years.

John Reid: Information is not available for the full period requested. Data collected prior to one April 2003 is unreliable, and is not directly comparable with the more accurate figures collected since that time. The figures presented in the table show the proportion of staff, in terms of full time equivalent value, employed in an operational capacity at the close of each quarter from one April 2003 to 31 March 2006. Operational staff in the National Probation Service operate in multi-disciplinary teams including dedicated support staff. For this reason the figures provided include both the number of operational staff, and the number of support staff dedicated to operational service teams. The total of these two staff groups gives an accurate representation of the total resource applied to operational services. The non-operational staff in the National Probation Service are all other staff who provide non operational support services.
	
		
			   Operational staff  Non-operational staff  Total staff in post 
			  2003-04
			 Quarter 1 16,261.20 1,491.00 17,752.2 
			 Quarter 2 16,731.61 1,540.47 18,272.08 
			 Quarter 3 17,641.16 1,522.66 19,163.82 
			 Quarter 4 17,678.57 1,517.01 19,195.58 
			 
			  2004-05
			 Quarter 1 17,564.00 1,531.84 19,095.84 
			 Quarter 2 17,510.27 1,554.86 19,065.13 
			 Quarter 3 17,852.21 1,670.73 19,522.94 
			 Quarter 4 18,082.90 1,672.46 19,755.36 
			 
			  2005-06
			 Quarter 1 18,150.45 1,705.30 19,855.75 
			 Quarter 2 18,331.27 1,765.00 20,096.27 
			 Quarter 3 18,713.26 1,990.80 20,704.06 
			 Quarter 4 18,340.46 2,694.8 21,035.26

Rape Charge/Sentencing

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received about the potential to be able to charge with rape clients who use the services of a woman who has been forced into prostitution.

Vernon Coaker: In response to its consultation document on trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation, the Home Office received a number of representations which expressed support for the "Swedish model" whereby the purchase of sex is made a criminal offence. A summary of the responses received can be found on the Home Office website.

Rape Charge/Sentencing

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average sentence was for  (a) rape and  (b) date rape in each of the last five years.

Vernon Coaker: The average sentence length of those given custodial sentences for rape, excluding those sentenced to life imprisonment, from 2000 to 2004 is in the following table. The Sexual Offences Act 2003, introduced on 1 May 2004, altered the definition and coverage of sexual offences. It redefined rape to include the non-consensual penetration of a male. 'Date rape' is not classified as a separate offence to rape.
	
		
			  Average length of determinate custodial sentences for rape all courts England and Wales 2000-04. 
			  Rape( 1)  Average sentence length (months) 
			 2000 85.4 
			 2001 84.6 
			 2002 87.7 
			 2003 90.5 
			 2004 87.9 
			 (1) On 1 May 2004 the law changed to include rape of a male.  Source:  RDS NOMS 12 June 2006

Road Safety

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the latest figures are for prosecutions of drivers using mobile phones while driving, broken down by police authority area.

Vernon Coaker: Available information taken from the Court Proceedings Database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform for the year 2004 (latest available) is in the following table. 2005 data will be available early in 2007.
	
		
			  Proceedings at magistrates courts for the offence of use of hand held mobile phone while driving( 1)  by police force area, England and Wales 2004 
			  Number of offences 
			  Police force area  Total proceedings 
			 Avon and Somerset 19 
			 Bedfordshire 5 
			 Cambridgeshire 7 
			 Cheshire 2 
			 Cleveland 4 
			 Cumbria 24 
			 Derbyshire 17 
			 Devon and Cornwall 19 
			 Dorset (2)— 
			 Durham 1 
			 Essex 28 
			 Gloucestershire 1 
			 Greater Manchester 73 
			 Hampshire 18 
			 Hertfordshire 6 
			 Humberside 4 
			 Kent (2)— 
			 Lancashire 17 
			 Leicestershire 12 
			 Lincolnshire 9 
			 London, City of 7 
			 Merseyside 22 
			 Metropolitan Police 203 
			 Norfolk 20 
			 Northamptonshire (2)— 
			 Northumbria 32 
			 North Yorkshire 18 
			 Nottinghamshire 8 
			 South Yorkshire 12 
			 Staffordshire 11 
			 Suffolk 7 
			 Surrey 9 
			 Sussex 1 
			 Thames Valley 24 
			 Warwickshire 7 
			 West Mercia 17 
			 West Midlands 61 
			 West Yorkshire 11 
			 Wiltshire 21 
			 Dyfed Powys 13 
			 Gwent (2)— 
			 North Wales 3 
			 South Wales 16 
			   
			 England and Wales 789 
			 (1) Offences under the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986, Regulations 110 (1), 110 (2) and 110(3). (2) Nil prosecutions.  Source: Court Proceedings Database.

Vulnerable Witnesses

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the national roll-out of the intermediaries scheme for vulnerable witnesses will be implemented; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: We will make a statement following consideration of the final report from the evaluation of the intermediary scheme in the six pathfinder areas.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Afghanistan

Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what estimate she has made of the  (a) area and  (b) yield of this year's opium crop in the Helmand province;
	(2)  what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of opium eradication programmes in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan.

Kim Howells: It is too early to provide accurate figures on the area and yield of this year's opium crop in Helmand Province. However, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime's (UNODC) Rapid Assessment Survey of March 2006 suggests that following a 21 per cent. reduction in overall cultivation last year, planting may increase in 13 of Afghanistan's 32 provinces, including Helmand. Research commissioned by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has shown that in areas with better security, governance and access to resources, there may be further reductions this year.
	Eradication was carried out in Helmand by the Afghan Government, at the request of and under the control of the Provincial Governor. The UNODC is currently in the process of verifying levels of eradication delivered, both in Helmand and in Afghanistan as a whole. Final figures for both eradication and cultivation should be available in the autumn. Eradication is a useful deterrent where there is access to legal livelihoods, tackling the drugs problem requires a range of activities including arresting and convicting the traffickers who profit from the trade, and putting in place the development programmes which enable fanners to move away from growing poppy. That is why the UK is spending £270 million over a three-year period on supporting the Government of Afghanistan's National Drug Control Strategy.

Afghanistan

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many officials from her Department are based in each province in Afghanistan, broken down by job function.

Kim Howells: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office currently has 34 staff serving in Afghanistan. For reasons of personnel security and safety it is not possible to give details of locations or specific functions of staff deployed in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 9 February 2006,  Official Report, column 1448W, on Afghanistan, what progress the Afghan/UN/US forum in Kabul is making in respect of each of the five pillars of Security Sector Reform.

Kim Howells: The London conference on Afghanistan launched the Afghanistan Compact. This provides the framework for continued international engagement in Afghanistan over the next five years. The Joint Co-ordination and Monitoring Board (JCMB) was established by the Compact to co-ordinate the international effort more effectively and to measure progress against the benchmarks and timelines set out in the Compact. Consultative Groups focussing on the eight sectors and five cross-cutting themes covered in the Compact have met and will report to the next JCMB's meeting at the end of July.

Alcoholic Beverages

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the estimated value is of central Government's stock of alcoholic beverages; and how many bottles of  (a) wine,  (b) beer,  (c) spirits and  (d) other alcoholic beverages are held by the Government.

Geoff Hoon: Pursuant to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Member for Blackburn (Mr. Straw) the then Foreign Secretary to the hon. Member for Chipping Barnet (Mrs Villiers) on 17 March 2006,  Official Report, columns 2529-30W. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is responsible for the administration of the Government hospitality wine cellar. The cellar contains a mixture of fine and beverage wines, spirits, liqueurs and beers. The current estimated value is approximately £674,000, based on cost price. The cellar contains just over 36,500 bottles, of which fewer than 300 are spirits and liqueurs. Beer is not held in large quantities and is bought on an ad hoc basis, depending on requirements.

Balkan States

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions she has had with her counterparts in the Balkan states on the way that the recent history of the region is taught in schools; and if she will make a statement.

Geoff Hoon: Neither my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary, nor I have yet raised this with our counterparts. However, education is part of the reform agenda that officials regularly discuss with Balkan states. We recognise the importance of this issue as a means to tackling inter-ethnic tension in the region. It is a vital element of longer-term stability. We have funded a range of projects to support this, including part funding the book 'Clio in the Balkans—The Politics of History Education'. Our Embassy in Sarajevo is also involved in supporting educational reform. 'Education and Youth' was the theme of our local EU presidency and the ambassador in Sarajevo has co- chaired the Education Reform Committee.

Bulgaria/Romania

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what support the European Union is providing to  (a) Bulgaria and  (b) Romania to strengthen the border security of those countries.

Geoff Hoon: The EU offers assistance to Romania and Bulgaria on strengthening border security through a range of projects designed to help both countries comply with EU standards. In particular, through the European Commission's 2005 Phare programme, we have provided assistance to Romania to the value of €41 million for nine projects covering training and the provision of equipment, such as "Upgrading the Surveillance Capacity of Romanian Border Police Special Surveillance Vehicles". Similar capacity building was provided to Bulgaria amounting to almost €17 million for "Development of Centralised Information Systems and Introduction of EU Best Practices and Standards in the Field of Border Control". Many other EU projects on other aspects of accession preparations also touch on border security, e.g. customs, veterinary controls and police training.

Comprehensive Spending Review

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions she has had with  (a) the Treasury and  (b) the Cabinet Office regarding the pre-comprehensive spending review report; and if she will make a statement.

Geoff Hoon: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has had and will continue to have wide ranging and regular discussions with my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary about preparations for the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review, as a matter of key importance to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's medium and long term planning.

Cuba

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what response her Department has made to the United States Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba's recent call for a democracy fund for Cuba.

Geoff Hoon: We understand that the US Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba is due to issue its latest report this week.
	UK and EU policy towards Cuba continues to be based on constructive engagement with both the Government and civil society in order to encourage a peaceful transition to pluralist democracy.

Departmental Premises (Security)

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether her Department has  (a) directly and  (b) indirectly employed illegal immigrants as security guards.

Geoff Hoon: Security guards at Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) premises in the UK are employed indirectly via the contractor Pegasus Security. Pegasus Security has assured the FCO that illegal immigrants have not been employed as security guards at premises in the UK. Applicants must provide proof of British nationality during the recruitment process.

Deposited Papers

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if she will make it her policy to make copies of Deposited Papers available in  (a) the Vote Office and  (b) Printed Paper Office at the same time as copies are deposited in the Library; and if she will make a statement.

Geoff Hoon: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) regularly deposits papers in the Libraries of the House for the reference of hon. Members and noble Lords. The FCO assesses the level of interest in the deposited paper and in cases where there is likely to be wide interest provides copies of the document to the Vote Office and Printed Paper Office accordingly,
	The FCO is always happy to provide copies of deposited papers to hon. Members and noble Lords on request.

Drugs

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the work of the British embassy's drugs team in Kabul in co-ordinating anti-narcotics operations with International Security Assistance Force and the United States Operation Enduring Freedom.

Kim Howells: The Government of Afghanistan rather than the British embassy drugs team in Kabul is responsible for co-ordinating the counter narcotics campaign in Afghanistan. Afghan Ministries are also responsible for implementation of the campaign. Co-ordination of assistance takes place nationally via the Afghan Ministry of Counter Narcotics (MCN) and the Counter Narcotics Cabinet Sub-Committee, which brings together all relevant Ministries to oversee and monitor the implementation of the National Drug Control Strategy (NDCS). With support from the British embassy drugs team in Kabul, the MCN also chairs a series of working groups to take forward detailed implementation planning for all aspects of the NDCS. International partners including the military take part in the working groups and structures are also in place to ensure Afghan counter narcotics law enforcement operations are co-ordinated and deconflicted with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and US Operation Enduring Freedom operations. As partner nation for counter narcotics, the UK continues to encourage international partners including all ISAF troop contributors to provide support to the Afghan counter narcotics campaign in line with the commitments identified in the Afghanistan Compact and with agreed ISAF policy.

Government Wine Cellar

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to her answer of 11 July 2005,  Official Report, column 664W, on the Government wine cellar, how many bottles of wine are held in the Government wine cellar; what the latest estimate is of the value of the collection; how much was spent on the Government wine cellar in 2005-06; how many staff work in the wine cellar; what their salaries are; and under what circumstances Ministers have access to the wine cellar.

Geoff Hoon: As has been made clear in the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Bath (Mr. Foster) today (UIN 82816) the Government Hospitality wine cellar contains just over 36,500 bottles. The most recent valuation, at the end of March 2006, placed on the stock is £674,000. In 2005-06, Government Hospitality spent a little over £95,000 on new stock for the cellar. The cellar is administered by Government Hospitality, under the guidance of the Government Hospitality Advisory Committee for the Purchase of Wine. Three civil servants assist in the administration of the cellar, among other duties. Ministers do not have access to the cellar; wines from the cellar are supplied to events hosted by Ministers as part of the service offered by Government Hospitality.

Illegal Immigration (North Africa)

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions she has had with her counterparts in  (a) Libya,  (b) Tunisia and  (c) Algeria on their plans to tackle illegal immigration from North Africa to Europe.

Geoff Hoon: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has not as yet had discussions with her counterparts in these countries. I raised migration with my Algerian counterpart when I visited on 7-8 June and my Libyan counterpart in Tripoli on 25-27 June.
	Migration from Africa to Europe has also been discussed this week at a meeting of African and European countries in Rabat.

Israel

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what monitoring is being undertaken by the Government to ascertain whether components subject to an export licence which are supplied to a third country and were known either to be intended for re-export to Israel, or where there was a known risk of diversion to Israel, are being used in the military incursions by Israel into Gaza and the West Bank which commenced on 27 June; and what the results have been of any such monitoring.

Kim Howells: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave him on 5 July 2006,  Official Report, column1158W and the reply given to him by my right hon. Friend the Minister of State for Trade, Investment and Foreign affairs, (Mr. McCartney) on 6 July 2006,  Official Report, column 1340W. All licences, including for incorporation, are assessed against the consolidated criteria and prevailing circumstances at the time of application. This would include the risk that equipment could be diverted to an undesirable end-user or end-use.

Nigeria

Mark Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on what date her Department received a letter from the Chancellor of the Exchequer informing her of the plans for his trip to Nigeria on 22 May 2006.

Ian McCartney: Arrangements were in line with normal procedures.

Sudan

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans she has  (a) to encourage further peace talks at Abuja to try to resolve the Darfur crisis and  (b) to make further appeals to the opponents of the Darfur Peace Agreement to sign up to the agreement.

Geoff Hoon: We welcome the signature of the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) on 5 May. We believe that if successfully implemented it will constitute a good basis for the resolution of the crisis in Darfur. Neither we nor the African Union envisage further talks at Abuja: reopening the text of the DPA would threaten the agreement that has been reached. We continue to urge all parties in Darfur to support the DPA and are pushing for its rapid implementation.

Sudan

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment she has made of the impact on the North-South Comprehensive Peace Agreement in Sudan of the continuing conflict in Darfur.

Geoff Hoon: Continued conflict and instability in Darfur risks undermining the successful implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in Sudan. And failure to implement fully and effectively the CPA risks exacerbating the conflict in Darfur. That is why the UK is doing ail it can to secure both peace in Darfur and rapid implementation of the CPA.

Sudan

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress she has made in persuading the unified Government of Sudan on the need for UN involvement; and what assessment she has made of the prospect for chapter 8 agreement.

Geoff Hoon: Security Council Resolution 1679 called for a UN force for Darfur. The African Union (AU) reaffirmed its support for a UN force at its recent summit in the Gambia, President Bashir continues to oppose this. But, there are signs of different views within his Government on this issue. His own coalition partners, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, have said that they accept a UN force for Darfur, We will continue to urge the Government of Sudan to admit a UN force.
	Chapter 8 of the UN charter provides for the UN to support peacekeeping operations by regional organisations. We believe that, even with substantial UN or other support, the current AU force in Darfur would struggle to meet the substantial new demands placed on it by the Darfur Peace Agreement, and thus that full transition to a UN force needs to occur as soon as possible.

Sudan

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment she has made of  (a) the objectives of organisations opposed to the Darfur Peace Agreement and  (b) their treatment of (i) internally displaced peoples and (ii) their views on compensation to those affected by the conflict.

Geoff Hoon: Abdul Wahid's faction of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) refused to sign the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA). They asserted that the DPA provided insufficient representation for Darfuris in Government and insufficient compensation for those affected by the war. They have been rallying opposition to the DPA in the Internally Displaced Person (IDP) camps.
	We disagree. We believe that the DPA offers a good deal for the people of Darfur, including a say for the rebels in Government at the national and Darfur levels, and a substantial reconstruction package. If implemented properly, the DPA will provide the basis for the return of the IDPs to their homes. Those who oppose the DPA are delaying the day when such returns can take place.

Uganda

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations she has made to President Museveni of Uganda about the international implications of offering amnesty to the leadership of the Lords Resistance Army.

Geoff Hoon: We are following the Government of southern Sudan's current mediation process closely and we welcome all efforts to bring the long-running conflict in northern Uganda to an end. Such efforts should focus on securing a permanent end to the conflict and encouraging Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) foot-soldiers out of the bush to seek amnesty and reintegration into their communities.
	President Museveni has recently said that he will offer an amnesty to the five LRA commanders facing International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrants if the talks process is successful The ICC has indicated that the arrest warrants still stand and reminded Uganda of its obligation as a state party to the Rome statute to effect the arrest warrants.
	We endorse this—the UK is a strong supporter, in principle and in practice, of the work of the ICC. We are committed to seeing an end to impunity for the worst human rights abuses and criminal acts. My noble Friend, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Lord Triesman of Tottenham, made this point most recently to the Uganda Foreign Minister when they met in the margins of the African Union summit in Banjul earlier this month.

Yemen

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment she has made of  (a) the security situation and  (b) political stability in Yemen; and if she will make a statement.

Kim Howells: We have concerns about the security situation in Yemen and judge there is a continuing high threat from terrorism. During my visit to Yemen in January, I emphasised to Government Ministers that determined action against terrorist threats was vital. The UK provides practical counter terrorism support to Yemen.
	This is a key year for Yemen's political and democratic systems with presidential elections in September. We will closely monitor the election process.

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Delegations

Andrew Dismore: To ask the honourable Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission pursuant to the answer of 5 July 2006,  Official Report, column 1082W, on delegations, how many overseas visits the eight members of staff referred to undertook in total between 1 June 2005 and 31 May 2006; and at what cost.

Nick Harvey: In the year 1 June 2005 to 31 May 2006, the total number of overseas visits undertaken by the eight members of staff referred to in the answer of 5 July 2006,  Official Report, column 1082W, was 38, to 19 separate sessions or meetings of international parliamentary assemblies. The total cost of subsistence and travel payments for those overseas visits was £53,946.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Cervical Cancer

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the most recent survival rate is for patients in the Province diagnosed with cervical cancer.

Paul Goggins: The survival time for a cancer patient is defined as the time elapsed between diagnosis and death The following table details information on the incidence of cervical cancer (ICD-10 C53) in Northern Ireland for the last period for which data was available.
	
		
			  Relative survival for cervical cancer in Northern Ireland 
			  Diagnosis Period 1996-99  
			 1-Year (95 % CI) 85.9 % (81.4, 89.4) 
			 5-Year (95% CI) 71.9 % (65.9, 77.0) 
			  Source: NI Cancer Registry. 
		
	
	Survival from cervical cancer is highly dependent upon the stage at which the disease is diagnosed. The five-year survival rate for stage I cervical cancer was 82 per cent. for patients diagnosed between 1996 and 1999, compared to 2 per cent. for Stage IV disease.
	This information has been provided by the Northern Ireland Cancer Registry and is the most up to date currently available.
	 Notes:
	1. Figures in brackets represent the 95 per cent. confidence interval, which is the range of values within which there is a 95 per cent. probability of finding the true value for the survival rate.
	2. The estimation of patient survival is complicated by the fact that some patients die of causes unrelated to the cancer of interest. To allow for the deaths due to other diseases, survival is expressed as relative survival rate (RSR). Relative survival is the ratio of the observed survival divided by the survival that the patients would have experienced if they had the same probability of dying as the general population having the same age and sex.

Child Services

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans are in place to manage the process of change between existing health boards and trusts in the Province and the new Health and Social Services Authority in relation to services for children, young people and families.

Paul Goggins: By April 2007 the 18 existing trusts will be formally dissolved and the five new Health and Social Care trusts will become fully operational. The new Health and Social Services Authority will subsequently be established by April 2008. The new authority will have a role in commissioning the full range of services, including those for children, young people and families, either centrally or through the Local Commissioning Groups. The services will be delivered by the five new trusts and, where appropriate, the community and voluntary sector.
	Specific plans are being developed to ensure that continuity and appropriate governance and accountability arrangements are maintained for services to children and families and, where necessary, strengthened in the move to the new commissioning and service provision arrangements. This work is being taken forward collaboratively by the Department, boards, trusts and the Northern Ireland Social Care Council with input from representatives of service users and carers.

Child Services

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what expenditure is planned on each of the measures contained in Theme 3 of the Children and Young People Funding Package on improving education provision and support for looked-after children and vulnerable young adults in 2006-07; and on what timetable.

Paul Goggins: The information is as follows;
	 1. Supporting and equipping foster carers to discharge their role effectively as "First Educators" of the children in their care:
	The planned expenditure for this initiative in 2006-07 is £1.04 million. The service will be provided by a voluntary organisation (or consortia), selected in the autumn following a public tender process. Interim arrangements are currently being finalised to deliver the scheme in the meantime.
	 2. Supporting staff in residential care settings to promote improved educational outcomes for the children in their care:
	An outreach worker will be employed in each of the education and library board areas to support staff in residential care settings to promote improved educational outcomes for the children in their care. Expenditure in 2006-07 is expected to be some £200,000.
	A further one-off figure of £0.1 million is available in 2006-07 to refresh computer equipment in children's homes. Expenditure in the Western health and social
	services board has been approved and its trusts are currently purchasing equipment. The other three boards are finalising their costs. The boards have been asked to implement this initiative as quickly as possible.
	 3. Enabling young people who are not yet ready for independence to remain living with their foster carers, and to encourage more young people leaving care to continue in education or training up to age 21:
	The planned expenditure for this initiative in 2006-07 is £0.75 million. At the end of June 2006, this funding has supported 80 young people in foster placements. By March 2007, we expect this initiative will enable a further 70 young people to benefit from this scheme.
	 4. Empowering children and young people in care to engage actively in the process of ensuring the system works in their best interests:
	The planned expenditure for this initiative in 2006-07 is £0.66 million. The service will be provided by a voluntary organisation (or consortia), selected in September following a public tender process. Interim arrangements are being finalised to deliver the scheme in the meantime.

Child Worker Vetting

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what measures are in place for co-ordination between authorities in Northern Ireland and  (a) the UK and  (b) the Republic of Ireland to ensure that people deemed unsuitable for work with children in one jurisdiction are unable to secure such employment in the other.

Paul Goggins: With effect from 1 April 2005, the Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults (NI) Order 2003 (POCVA) introduced a statutory requirement for childcare organisations to carry out a vetting check on prospective employees wishing to work with children in a paid or unpaid capacity in Northern Ireland. As part of the services introduced under POCVA, employers in Northern Ireland can check to confirm that a prospective employee or volunteer is not disqualified from working with children.
	Where previous addresses indicate that an individual may have resided in:
	England or Wales, a criminal records check is carried out with the relevant police forces for that jurisdiction and a check is also carried out against the relevant Disqualification Lists for that jurisdiction;
	Scotland, a criminal records check is carried out. Discussions are ongoing to allow Northern Ireland access to Scotland's Disqualification Lists;
	Republic of Ireland, a criminal records check will be requested from the Garda Vetting Unit by the PSNI.
	Where an individual resides in England/Wales or Scotland and wishes to work or volunteer to work with children, the onus will be on the prospective employer to carry out a vetting check through the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) or Disclosure Scotland respectively. If the individual has a previous address in Northern Ireland CRB or Disclosure Scotland will request a criminal records check from the PSNI. PSNI will also check if individuals have been listed on the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS) and the Department of Education (DE) Disqualification Lists.
	Employers in Republic of Ireland (ROI) can also register with the DHSSPS to ascertain whether prospective employees resident in ROI but with previous addresses in Northern Ireland are included on the DHSSPS Disqualification list.

Correspondence

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the average cost to his Department was of replying to a letter written  (a) by an hon. Member and  (b) by a member of the public in the latest period for which figures are available; and how much of that sum is accounted for by (i) officials' time, (ii) cost of stationery and (iii) postage costs.

Peter Hain: The information requested is not recorded centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	However, on an annual basis the Cabinet Office publishes a report to Parliament on the performance of departments in replying to Members/Peers correspondence. The report for 2005 was published on 30 March 2006,  Official Report, columns 76-78WS.

Dentistry

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what percentage of  (a) children,  (b) adults and  (c) the population in Northern Ireland were registered with a dentist in each of the last five years (i) in total and (ii) by board.

Paul Goggins: The information requested is detailed in the following table. Registration figures by Health and Social Services Board for 2000 are not available.
	
		
			  Percentage of population registered with general dental practitioners 
			  HSS board  Eastern  Northern  Southern  Western  NI 
			  2001 (as at May)  
			 Children 64.7 64.4 62.6 62.3 63.8 
			 Adults 52.3 49.8 53.1 43.1 50.3 
			 All 55.4 53.6 55.8 48.7 53.9 
			   
			  2002 (as at August)  
			 Children 64.7 63.7 62.7 61.5 63.5 
			 Adults 53.5 50.8 53.7 44.4 51.4 
			 All 56.2 54.2 56.2 49.3 54.5 
			   
			  2003 (as at July)  
			 Children 65.1 64.2 63.8 60.5 63.8 
			 Adults 53.7 51.4 54.2 43.5 51.6 
			 All 56.5 54.7 56.9 48.3 54.7 
			   
			  2004 (as at July)  
			 Children 65.4 62.8 63.1 60.3 63.3 
			 Adults 53.0 49.2 53.6 41.6 50.3 
			 All 56.0 52.6 56.2 46.8 53.6 
			  Note: Figures are derived from dental registration data and the corresponding mid-year estimate of population from General Register Office, Northern Ireland.  Source: Central Service Agency and General Register Office

Dentistry

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many  (a) fillings and  (b) extractions were carried out on children's teeth in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years (i) in total and (ii) in each board area.

Paul Goggins: The information requested is detailed in the following table:
	
		
			   EHSSB  NHSSB  SHSSB  WHSSB  Total 
			  (a) Fillings in children's teeth  
			 2000-01 83,961 54,552 40,725 39,807 219,045 
			 2001-02 74,105 51,594 39,509 37,744 202,952 
			 2002-03 63,171 45,818 32,871 30,354 172,214 
			 2003-04 61,512 42,348 31,177 30,838 165,875 
			 2004-05 60,938 39,856 28,702 26,872 156,368 
			 2005-06 59,426 40,689 28,563 26,474 155,152 
			   
			  (b) Extractions of children's teeth  
			 2000-01 37,309 20,080 13,979 17,462 88,830 
			 2001-02 32,463 18,733 12,113 17,573 80,882 
			 2002-03 19,077 13,933 9,573 10,655 53,238 
			 2003-04 19,184 13,614 8,708 8,895 50,401 
			 2004-05 18,764 12,731 7,552 8,550 47,597 
			 2005-06 17,219 11,141 7,794 7,689 43,843 
			  Note: Children are defined as those aged 0-17 years  Source: Central Services Agency

Departmental Publications

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list in date order the  (a) Green and  (b) White papers produced by his Department since October 2005.

Peter Hain: My Department has published two numbered Command Papers since October 2005. Details are as follows:
	(i) Autumn Report (Cm. No. 6720) published on 5 December 2005; and
	(ii) Departmental Report (Cm. No. 6836) published on 19 April 2006.
	The Northern Ireland Office does not keep central records of unnumbered Command Papers that have been published.

Foetal Alcohol Syndrome

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the merits of creating a database of people in the Province with foetal alcohol syndrome or other alcohol-related complications of pregnancy.

Paul Goggins: A formal assessment has not been made of the merits of creating a database or registry of people in the Province with foetal alcohol syndrome or other alcohol-related complications of pregnancy. Foetal alcohol spectrum disorder is a difficult condition to diagnose accurately because of the wide range of symptoms with which it can present, signs and symptoms which themselves can be indicative of other conditions e.g. behavioural problems. In addition there are also the difficulties associated with ascertaining or establishing the mother's alcohol intake before and during pregnancy.

Genital Warts

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will estimate the number of patients in the Province who suffer from genital warts; how many new cases of genital warts have been diagnosed amongst  (a) males and  (b) females in the Province in each of the last five years; and if he will estimate the cost arising from management of (i) new and (ii) existing cases of genital warts in the Province in 2005-06.

Paul Goggins: An estimate of the number of patients in the Province who suffer from genital warts is not available.
	The number of new cases of genital warts that have been seen at Genito-Urinary Medicine clinics in Northern Ireland, broken down by gender, in the Province in each of the last five years is detailed in the following table.
	
		
			   (a) Males  (b) Females 
			 2001 1,107 1,023 
			 2002 1,147 1,029 
			 2003 1,111 1,065 
			 2004 1,059 1,042 
			 2005 1,208 1,098 
			  Notes: 1. Figures refer to calendar years. 2. The number of new cases of genital warts only includes the condition anogenital warts—first attack.  Source: Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre Northern Ireland (CDSC (NI)). 
		
	
	Information is not readily available on costs of treating new and existing cases of genital warts due to the relatively small numbers of cases involved. For the year 2005-06 the planned expenditure for this area fell under the Genito-Urinary Medicine specialty, which was expected to cost, excluding capital, £4.7 million Province-wide,

Health Expenditure

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what percentage of health expenditure in the Province in each of the last five years was allocated to  (a) acute hospitals,  (b) community-based health care and  (c) primary care.

Paul Goggins: The information requested is shown in the following table:
	
		
			   Acute and hospital percentage of total  Community percentage of total  PSS percentage of total  Primary care (BFR(F)) percentage of total  Total 
			 2000-01 47 10 27 17 100 
			 2001-02 47 10 27 17 100 
			 2002-03 43 10 26 22 100 
			 2003-04 42 10 26 23 100 
			 2004-05 42 10 25 23 100 
		
	
	The percentages quoted relate to the whole of the integrated health and personal social services (HPSS) budget. It should be noted that there was a reclassification of costs in the financial year 2002-03, which resulted in a decrease in recorded spend under the acute hospitals head and an equivalent increase under primary care.

Health Service Employees (Absence)

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many days sick leave were taken in Northern Ireland by  (a) doctors,  (b) nurses,  (c) other health professionals and  (d) other health service employees in each of the last three years, broken down by health trust area.

Paul Goggins: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 5 June 2006,  Official Report, column 470W.

Hospital-acquired Infections

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of the Northern Ireland regional strategy to fight infections acquired in hospital launched on 20 June 2005.

Paul Goggins: The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety launched its action plan for the prevention and control of healthcare associated infections at a major infection control conference in Belfast on 13 March 2006. Entitled "Changing the Culture", the plan took forward the proposals in the June 2005 strategy after due consideration of the responses made during the consultation period. It is a three-year plan and it is intended that its effectiveness will be assessed on its conclusion in 2009. A multi-disciplinary steering group is in place to monitor implementation during this period.

Lakewood Centre

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will meet a delegation of North Down constituents to discuss the relocation of facilities from the Lakewood Centre in Bangor to Childhaven in Millisle.

Paul Goggins: I will write to the hon. Member with the specifics of this case and place a copy in the library.

Medical Services

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what percentage of all GP practices in Northern Ireland were single-handed in each of the last five years.

Paul Goggins: The information requested is provided in the following table:
	
		
			  Percentage of Single-handed GP Practices in Northern Ireland, 2002 to 2006 
			   Number of single-handed practices  Percentage of all practices 
			 July 2006 66 18.2 
			 July 2005 68 18.7 
			 July 2004 72 19.7 
			 July 2003 63 17.5 
			 August 2002 62 17.2 
			  Note: Data is at July each year with the exception of 2002 which is at August  Source: Central Services Agency

Medical Services

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what  (a) the average GP practice list size for registered patients and  (b) the average practice list size for dental practices in Northern Ireland was in each of the last five years (i) in total and (ii) in each trust area.

Paul Goggins: The information requested is provided in the following tables.
	
		
			  Table (a)(i): The Average GP Practice List Size (Totals) 
			   GP practice list size  Number of GP practices  Average practice list size 
			 July 2006 1,804,757 363 4,972 
			 July 2005 1,794,440 364 4,930 
			 July 2004 1,788,589 365 4,900 
			 July 2003 1,781,565 361 4,935 
			 August 2002 1,776,199 361 4,920 
			  Source: Central Services Agency 
		
	
	
		
			  Table (a)(ii): The Average GP Practice List Size by Trust 
			   Average GP practice list size 
			  Trust  July 2006  July 2005  July 2004  July 2003  August 2002 
			 Armagh and Dungannon 4,751 4,652 4,598 4,556 4,526 
			 Causeway 5,568 5,288 5,241 5,196 5,167 
			 Craigavon and Banbridge 4,879 4,810 4,728 4,670 4,634 
			 Down and Lisburn 5,615 5,576 5,552 5,510 5,503 
			 Foyle 6,645 6,661 6,681 6,658 6,647 
			 Homefirst 5,186 5,144 5,106 5,250 5,221 
			 Newry and Mourne 4,141 4,266 4,228 4,232 4,205 
			 North Down and Ards 4,991 4,960 4,938 5,108 5,111 
			 North and West Belfast 4,386 4,418 4,384 4,414 4,433 
			 South and East Belfast 4,779 4,761 4,771 4,764 4,759 
			 Sperrin 4,159 3,998 3,993 4,092 4,061 
			  Source: Central Services Agency 
		
	
	
		
			  Table (b)(i):The Average Dental Practice List Size (Totals) 
			   Dental practice list size  Number of dental practices  Average dental practice list size 
			 June 2006 913,110 376 2,428 
			 June 2005 911,915 374 2,438 
			 October 2004 908,119 369 2,461 
			 June 2003 930,375 n/a n/a 
			 August 2002 925,478 n/a n/a 
			  Source: Central Services Agency 
		
	
	
		
			  Table (b) (ii): The Average Dental Practice List Size by Trust 
			   Average Dental Practice List Size 
			  Trust  June 2006  June 2005  October 2004  June 2003  August 2002 
			 Not Assigned(1) 36,658 33,205 31,079 33,413 34,768 
			 Armagh and Dungannon 60,564 60,309 60,793 60,753 60,018 
			 Causeway 57,997 56,613 55,380 55,620 54,798 
			 Craigavon and Banbridge 65,803 64,661 64,545 64,820 63,856 
			 Down and Lisburn 90,737 89,865 88,796 89,138 89,199 
			 Foyle 78,212 78,212 79,148 80,616 80,644 
			 Homefirst 173,836 174,011 172,601 181,555 179,354 
			 Newry and Mourne 70,725 71,558 71,933 73,599 73,282 
			 North Down and Ards 80,184 82,901 82,433 83,082 83,105 
			 North and West Belfast 51,218 51,103 50,990 50,472 48,854 
			 South and East Belfast 101,287 102,355 101,909 105,492 105,001 
			 Sperrin 45,889 47,122 48,512 51,812 52,599 
			 (1 )Some patients could not be assigned to a Trust because of missing, incomplete or invalid postcodes and/or incorrect Central Health Index numbers.  Note: This table is based on where the patient is resident (that is, the location of the patient by Trust)  Source: Central Services Agency

Medical Services

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what percentage of GP practices in Northern Ireland had at least 50 per cent. of their patients living three or more miles away in each of the last five years  (a) in total and  (b) in each board area.

Paul Goggins: The information requested is provided as follows.
	
		
			  Number and percentage of GP practices with at least 50 per cent. of their patients living three or more miles away by Health and Social Services Board (HSSB) and in total 
			   Eastern HSSB  Northern HSSB  Southern HSSB  Western HSSB  Northern Ireland total 
			  July 2006  
			 Number of practices 9 10 16 15 50 
			 Percentage of practices 6.1 12.3 20.8 25.9 13.8 
			   
			  July 2005  
			 Number of practices 9 10 16 17 52 
			 Percentage of practices 6.1 12.2 21.1 28.8 14.3 
			   
			  July 2004  
			 Number of Practices 8 10 15 17 50 
			 Percentage of practices 5.4 12.2 19.7 28.8 13.7 
			   
			  July 2003  
			 Number of practices 5 10 15 11 41 
			 Percentage of practices 3.4 12.5 19.7 19.0 11.4 
			   
			  August 2002  
			 Number of practices 4 10 15 10 39 
			 Percentage of practices 2.7 12.5 19.7 17.2 10.8 
			  Note: Data are at July each year with the exception of 2002 which is at August  Source: Central Services Agency

Medical Services

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the total cost of ophthalmic services in Northern Ireland was in each of the last five years.

Paul Goggins: The information requested is provided in the following table.
	
		
			   Cost of ophthalmic services (£000) 
			 2000-01 12,028 
			 2001-02 12,278 
			 2002-03 13,458 
			 2003-04 16,211 
			 2004-05 14,428 
			  Note: Costs exclude patient contributions.  Source: Central Services Agency

Ministerial Visits

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on how many occasions he has stayed overnight in Northern Ireland since his appointment.

Peter Hain: Since my appointment as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, in May 2005 until the end of June 2006, I have stayed overnight in Northern Ireland on 79 occasions. In the same period I have also spent 130 days in Northern Ireland. The hon. Gentleman will be aware that I also carry out Northern Ireland duties from the NIO Office in London and in Parliament, as every one of my predecessors has done.

Multiple Sclerosis

Mark Durkan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer of 29 June,  Official Report, column 600W, on MS treatment, how much of the additional £2 million identified for multiple sclerosis treatment has been allocated to the Western Health and Social Services Board; how much of that it is planned to receive; and what plans the Board has for that money.

Paul Goggins: The additional £2 million to improve access to disease modifying therapies for people with MS has been allocated to Health and Social Services Boards on a capitation basis. The Western Board's allocation, and the amount it will receive, is £343,000. The Board will use the funding to improve treatment for patients on the waiting list for disease modifying therapies, as well as new patients who come forward.

Obesity

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what initial assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the new guidelines on the treatment of obesity in Northern Ireland.

Paul Goggins: A guideline on the management of obesity in secondary care, issued by the Clinical Resource and Efficiency Support Team (CREST) in June 2005, has not been assessed for its effectiveness by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety. CREST is an independent group comprised of local healthcare professionals from a range of backgrounds. The Department does not formally assess the effectiveness of CREST guidance.
	The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is currently developing guidance on the prevention, identification, assessment and management of overweight and obesity in adults and children. This guidance is due to be published in November 2006 and, under the Department's link with the institute, will be assessed for its applicability to the health and personal social services in Northern Ireland, The review of applicability will not include an assessment of the effectiveness of the NICE guidance. In linking with NICE, the Department accepts the professionalism and expertise of the institute's guidance development process and is not seeking to duplicate this process in Northern Ireland.

Organic Farming

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he is taking through the planning process to encourage organic farm development; and if he will make a statement.

David Cairns: The planning process does not differentiate between organic and non organic farm development. It is recognised that as agriculture continues to change and develop, it is important that the planning process continues to support operational needs.
	Under the Planning (General Development) Order (Northern Ireland) 1993, certain development relating to agriculture and forestry is permitted development (PD) i.e. a planning application is not required as permission is deemed to be granted.
	Where a proposal is not PD and express permission is required, planning permission will be granted for agricultural and forestry building/works subject to certain criteria and policy requirements. Any application is very much site specific and is treated on its own merits subject to detailed planning and environmental criteria.

Paediatric Cardiology

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the average waiting time was for an initial paediatric cardiology assessment in the Province in the last period for which figures are available

Paul Goggins: pursuant to the reply, 5 June 2006, Official Report, c. 447W
	My initial response has been amended to take account of an error in data provided by Ulster Community and Hospitals Trust.
	Waiting list information is collected by time band. It is therefore not possible to calculate the arithmetic mean (average) length of time waiting. It is however possible to identify the median or mid point waiting time band. Current median (average) waiting times for children waiting an initial paediatric cardiology out-patient assessment, in each applicable Health and Social Services Trust, are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  HSS Trust  Median waiting times for an out-patient paediatric cardiology assessment (months 
			 Royal Group of Hospitals 7 
			 United Hospitals 6-9 
			 Craigavon Area Hospital Group 3-5 
			 Altnagelvin Group 3-5 
			 Causeway Within 2 
			 Ulster Community and Hospitals 9-11 
			  Source:  Health and Social Service Trusts

Paediatric Cardiology

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many patients are waiting for an initial paediatric cardiology assessment within the Ulster Community and Hospital Trust area, broken down by the length of time which has been waited.

Paul Goggins: The number of patients waiting for an initial outpatient assessment in the paediatric cardiology specialty at the Ulster hospital at 31 May 2006 by length of time waiting is provided in the following table.
	
		
			  Timeband  Number waiting 
			 0 to two months 21 
			 Three to five months 12 
			 Six to eight months 10 
			 Nine to 11 months 11 
			 12 to 14 months 7 
			 15 to 17 months 5 
			 18 to 20 months 10 
			 21 to 23 months 9 
			 24 plus months 11 
			 NI total 96 
			  Source: Ulster Community and Hospitals Group HSS Trust

Pharmaceutical Payments

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the total cost of pharmaceutical payments in Northern Ireland was in the last five years; what the total net ingredient cost was; and what the gross cost was per person.

Paul Goggins: The information requested is provided as follows.
	
		
			  Gross cost, net ingredient cost and gross cost per person, 2001 to 2005 
			  £ 
			   Gross cost  Net ingredient cost  Gross cost per person 
			 2001 295,606,789 272,437,580 175 
			 2002 323,650,874 298,933,228 191 
			 2003 354,350,542 330,158,987 208 
			 2004 380,996,679 365,272,924 223 
			 2005 383,146,826 359,853,479 224 
			  Source: Central Services Agency

Pharmaceutical Payments

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the average cost per prescription item in Northern Ireland was in each of the last five years; what the total number of prescription forms was; and what was the average number of prescription items per person was in each year.

Paul Goggins: The information requested is provided as follows.
	
		
			  Total number of prescription items, average cost per prescription item and average number of prescription items per person, 2001 to 2005 
			   Total number of prescription items  Average gross cost per prescription item (£)  Average number of prescription items per person 
			 2001 24,551,125 12.04 15 
			 2002 25,419,957 12.73 15 
			 2003 26,399,016 13.42 16 
			 2004 27,318,349 13.95 16 
			 2005 27,959,494 13.70 16 
			  Source: Central Services Agency

Respiratory Disease

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress has been made on the 10 year strategy to reduce respiratory disease in Northern Ireland announced on 9 June 2005.

Paul Goggins: A draft strategy for respiratory disease was published for consultation in June 2005. A final document "A Healthier Future: A Strategic Framework for Respiratory Conditions" was formally launched on 15 March 2006 by my hon. Friend, the Member for St. Helens South.
	The framework recommends that a network of local multidisciplinary respiratory groups should be established to facilitate and co-ordinate the implementation of the strategy in their area. The work of these local groups will be overseen by a Regional Respiratory Forum which will comprise the lead professionals from each of the local groups. The Health and Social Services Boards are currently taking steps to constitute their local groups and the establishment of the regional forum will follow later this year.
	In 2006-07 the Department of Health Social Services and Public Safety has invested an additional £3 million through the QMS Contract in a Directed Enhanced Service to help people with respiratory conditions. These resources will be used to provide effective self-management training to enable people with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to manage their own conditions more effectively and to provide care and rehabilitative services to improve the long-term health and wellbeing of these patients.

Waiting Lists/Times

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the average waiting time was at each hospital emergency department in the Province in each of the last 12 months.

Paul Goggins: Information on the time that patients wait to be seen in accident and emergency departments is not collected centrally.
	For those trusts who have electronic data systems in place, data extracts have been requested and work is due to begin on merging these extracts in mid-July. Work is in progress to develop an electronic solution for the trusts that currently have manual systems and the development of detailed data definitions is underway, Unvalidated data on accident and emergency waiting times should be available by end September 2006.